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Copyrighted, March, 190a, by Century Art Co , Phila. 


SISTINE MADONNA. 





Copyrighted, March, 1902, by Century Art Co , Phila. 


POPE LEO XIII. 






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January ioth , igo2 0enSOf DepUtatUS. 


Ifmpnmatur: 

* Michael Augustine, 

January 16th, igo2 Archbishop of /New york. 




Our Lady of Good Counsel 


The Beautiful Story 


of 


Catholic Faith 

Including 

THE HOLY ROSARY ART AND LITERATURE 


The Angelus Bell Rings 


Sacrament of Extreme Unction 


Sacraments of the Altar 


The Rosary for Children 
The Angelic Salutation 
Encyclicals of His Holiness 
Pope Leo XIII 

Founder of the Order of Preachers 

St. Dorr\inic 

Penance 

Matrimony 

Confirmation 

Baptism 

Doctrine of the Holy Trinity 


Sacrament of the Holy Order 
Ceremonies at Funerals 
A Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 
Illustrated 

The Catholic Church 

The Custodian of Our Faith and 

Morals 

Death 

Judgment 

Purgatory- 

Heaven 


St. Anthony of Padua 

Lead Kindly Light 

Faith and Private Judgment 

Faith and Doubt 

God's Will the End of Life 

Why am I a Catholic ? 

How to Convince Your Protestant 
Neighbor 

Religious Education of Children 
Powerful Intercession of the 
Blessed Virgin 


Sutbors 

ST. ALPHONSUS DE LIGUORI 
Cardinal JOHN HENRY NEWMAN 
Rt. Rev. LOUIS DE GOESBR1AND, D.D. 
Rev. LEONARD GOFF1NE 
Rev. MICHAEL MULLER, C. SS. R. 
Rev. S M. BRANDI. S. J. 

Rev. C. H. McKENNA, O. P. 


Hell 


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CARL BLOCH 
BOUGEREAU 

CARL MULLER 
RAPHAEL 
HOFFMAN 


Brtists 

MEYER 

GUERCINO 

PAPPERITZ 

PETRISSEN 


ANGELO 

BIERMANN 

WURST 


WURN 

RUBENS 


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Catholic Educational Co. 

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Philadelphia 





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Tf)e Rosary is tf)e AarR 
b\ vRicR Catholics 
are Rnovn. 


® HE Rosary, like the sign of the Cross, is the 
sign of the Christian ; it is the sign of the 
Catholic. It is in fact the Catholic devo- 
r tion by excellence; it is the most universal 
devotion ; blest and approved by sovereign 
Pontiffs, encouraged by bishops, beauti- 
fully explained by doctors, it has been car- 
ried by apostles to the uttermost parts of 
the earth. 

The monks made the Rosary the charm of their solitude ; vir- 
gins have no greater joy than when presenting this crown to the 
Queen of Virgins ; penitents recite this psalter of Mary with the 
same sentiments which inspired David in composing his most 
beautiful psalms ; when grace touches sinners they love to recite 
their Ave Marias, which are as the cry by which they demand 
mercy and forgiveness. In the Rosary the child finds the virtues 
of infancy, and it is from this same source the mature man learns 
to support adversity ; and the 
him in his last hours. 


sustain 




Whether man weeps or rejoices, whether he is visited by 



trials or prosperity, whether he has to obey or command, w 
he lives in the world or the cloister, whether he lives among 
faithful or the infidel, whether he wields the sceptre, or sways the 

shepherd’s crook — he will find in the Rosary a lesson suitable to 

, - A 

his vocation, a grace which will answer his present need, a virtue 
which seems to have been placed there for him, and for him alone. 

The Rosary is a common devotion among all Christians ; they 
all love it, they all practice it, they have all adopted it. Those 
religious orders that have created so many holy works, and es- 
tablished so many practices of piety which are peculiarly their 
own and are claimed as their personal property, the right of 
propagating which they retain to themselves, have all adopted the 
Rosary. The Rosary is no longer the exclusive patrimony of the 
Order of St. Dominic, it is the property of the whole Church. 
The Dominicans, it is true, have the glory of giving it birth ; they 
monopolize the confraternity by right, but here their privileges 
end; and the other Orders, the Jesuits, Franciscans, Benedictines, 
Carthusians, Camaldules, Trinitarians, Trappists, Lazarists, Ora- 
torians, Passionists, Redemptorists, — all consider it a duty and 
an honor to practise the Rosary, and to preach its devotion. They 
glory in wearing its badge, because it is the mark of a Christian 


and the living testimony of Catholicism ; and a mark of 

ness IbAyards the most holy Mother of God. 

2 ■ / , 







JoooooooooooooooooootTNpooooocr 


poooooooooooooooooooooooooooool 


OOOOOOOOOOOOOI 




Origin of tfe Rosary. 

T was the will of God that we should 
receive His Adorable Son through Mary. 
It is His will that through her we should 
receive the graces which He purchased 
by His sufferings and death. Jesus, as 
we are told by the Doctors of the Church, 
committed to His Mother the care of all 
His elect; and our Immaculate Queen has 
too often manifested the power of her 
intercession and the tenderness of her care for us to call her love 
into question. The miracles of grace, the wondrous cures of body 
and soul effected at her shrines, and more especially in our days, 
at Lourdes, are simple proof of her motherly tenderness. 

And yet what are all these manifest miracles which she has 
wrought, in comparison with the hidden wonders which she is 
daily effecting by means of her Rosary? For next to the gift 
she made us of her Adorable Son is the wonderful gift of her 
Beads. Jesus is the author and source of grace ; the Rosary 
is the key by which the treasury of grace is opened to us. The 
Sacraments, we know, are the channels of grace ; but we also know 
that (with the exception of Baptism in children), they are only 
so many sacrileges if the soul be unprepared to receive them. 
Prayer must precede, accompany, and follow the Sacraments 
that they may have their full efficacy; and man cannot offer to 


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doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooocyjffi&uooooooooooooooooooovoooooooooooco 







God a prayer more powerful than the prayer he offers in the 
Rosary. If it is true life to know Jesus Christ, the Rosary is the 
key to that knowledge. 

If the elevation of the mind to God in the contemplation of 
His mysteries of mercy and love enlightens the soul and inflames 
the heart, the Rosary offers to our meditation the most sublime 
truths of religion. This is the testimony of every soul truly 
devoted to the Beads. It is the testimony of the saints of God. 
It is the declaration of illustrious Doctors of the Church. There- 
fore, we must not wonder that the Church employs language in 
speaking of the Rosary, which, with this solitary exception, is 
only applicable to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Deity, as 
“Sanctissimum,” “Sacratissimum,” — the most holy, the most 
sacred Rosary. Oh, that man would sufficiently appreciate this 
wondrous gift of the Queen of Heaven once given to St. Dominic, 
and through him to all children of the Church ! 

The object of this work is to show the greatness of the Rosary, 
the riches of its indulgences, and the means to be employed in 
order to gain them. But let us first briefly consider the history of 
the Rosary. 



The period which beheld this wondrous gift of the Mother of 
God was, perhaps, the darkest portion of the Middle Ages. The 
great Pontiff, Innocent III, who ascended the chair of Peter in 
1198, was deeply grieved at the sad spectacle which Christendom 
presented. He saw Sicily deluged in blood, the Germans contend- 
ing for Lombardy, three rival claimants for the sceptre of Henry 
VI, Philip Augustus scandalizing the world by his shameful life, 
and Spain bleeding beneath the iron rule of Moorish dominion. 
The last traces of Christianity were nearly obliterated in the East, 
whilst a fearful heresy was ravaging the provinces of France in the 
West. Laxity shamefully prevailed, and for the first time in her 
history the Church had to compel her children under pain of ex- 
communication to approach the Sacraments at least once a year. 
It was during this gloomy period that God, who regenerated the 
world through the medium of Mary, willed to save society by 
means of her Rosary. 

It is a singular fact that the Saints whom Mary honored with 
special marks of her love were men and women of spotless purity ; 
witness, St. Joseph, St. John, St. Catherine the Martyr, St. Ber- 
nard, and St. Catherine of Sienna ; and among the saints of the 
Middle Ages none shone with a brighter lustre than the noble 
young Spaniard, Dominic de Guzman. In early youth, like our 
Immaculate Mother, he made a vow of chastity which, he was 
able to declare on his death-bed, he had never violated. He burned 
with zeal for the salvation of souls as well as for the glory of his 
Creator; and it was the sad state of morality in France when he 
passed through that country with his bishop that determined him 
to institute his Order of Preachers to labor for the salvation of 
society. 


5 







The horrors which St. Dominic witnessed in Languedoc have 
their echoes in the ravings of the communists and socialists of our 
day. The Albigensians pillaged the churches, ravaged the monas- 
teries, desecrated the sanctuaries of God, and murdered the priests, 
whilst they rejected every moral obligation and despised every au- 
thority. Pope Innocent sent missionaries among them, but to his 
special envoy, Peter of Castelman, they awarded the crown of 
martyrdom. 

It was in the midst of these degraded outlaws that St. Dominic 
desired to labor, and, if necessary, lay down for them his life. 
They often sought to destroy him, but God had work for His ser- 
vant to accomplish. Day by day he labored, going from place 
to place preaching, and watering that barren vineyard with his 
sweat, his tears, and his blood. Three times during each night 
of prayer he scourged his body, and offered his innocent blood for 
the conversion of that obdurate race. To a missionary of less zeal 
the scanty fruits of such earnest toil would have been discourag- 
ing; but St. Dominic was not disheartened. There was yet one 
Refuge whither he could fly, one Advocate to whom he had never 
appealed in vain. Rather, the hour was come that had been fixed 
in eternity when our Immaculate Mother would bestow another 









eso CO \' . 






great gift upon a sinful world. St. Dominic appealed to the heart 
of his sweet Advocate, reminding her of the sufferings she wit- 
nessed on Calvary, and of her own sorrows, and, with tearful eyes, 
he besought her not to allow such sufferings and sorrows to be 
useless to the people for whom Jesus died. Then it was that the 
heavens opened, and the Mother of God, holding a Rosary 
in her hand, appeared in dazzling brightness to her servant, 
whom she thus addressed : “Be of good courage, Dominic ; the 
fruits of your labor will be abundant. The remedy for the evils 
you lament will be meditation on the life, death, and glory of my 
Son, uniting thereto the recitation of the Angelic Salutation by 
which the mystery of redemption was announced to the world.” 
Having explained the devotion of the Rosary, she continued : 
“The earth will remain barren till watered by this heavenly dew. 
This devotion you are to inculcate by your preaching, as a practice 
most dear to my Son and to me — as a most powerful means of 
dissipating heresy, extinguishing vice, propagating virtue, of im- 
ploring the divine mercy, and of obtaining my protection. I desire 
that not only you but all those who shall enter your Order, shall 
perpetually promote this manner of prayer. The faithful will ob- 
tain by it innumerable advantages, and will always find me ready 
to aid them in their wants. This is the precious gift which I leave 
to you and your children.” 

Full of gratitude to his Immaculate Mother, and animated with 
new courage, St. Dominic arose from prayer and setting out for 
Toulouse, whence he had retired a little for his devotions, he 
hastened to obey the command of the Queen of Heaven. 







Before St. Dominic entered the city charged with the sublime 
mission of preaching the Rosary the people, by a mysterious sum- 
mons, had already assembled in the church. Dominic ascended 
the pulpit, and proclaimed the devotion revealed from Heaven. 
For a while they remained insensible to his words, but God was 
not wanting in aiding His minister. A violent storm arose, the 
church was lighted up by the lurid glare of the lightning, while 
peal after peal of thunder resounded. A statue of the Blessed 
Virgin then began to move, at one time pointing to Heaven in a 
threatening manner, again pointing to the preacher, as if imploring 
them to listen to him and obey his voice. The obdurate hearts 
of the people were at length touched. The victory was gained. 
The Rosary had conquered. Prostrating themselves with one im- 
pulse at St. Dominic’s feet, the people begged to be received to 

this wonderful devotion. 

8 







Propagation of tfe Rosary 


* [IS was the first victory of the Rosary. In 
a little while St. Dominic saw his labors 
crowned with complete success. His- 
torians tell us that more than one hundred 
thousand of these deluded people re- 
turned to the true fold, where alone are 
life and salvation. The devotion of the 
Rosary soon spread through France and 
Spain. Afterwards it was carried by the 
faithful children of St. Dominic over the rest of Europe. Wher- 
ever that devotion was proclaimed the people flocked in crowds to 
become members of that glorious confraternity. Every rank was 
represented in its members. Popes and bishops exercised their 
influence to have it propagated. The nobles taught it to their 
vassals. The brave Simon De Montfort had his soldiers practise 
it before each battle with the enemy. In one word, the Rosary 
took hold of the Church, destined never to leave her. It is from 
the commencement of this devotion that we may date the revival 
of faith and piety at the close of the Middle Ages. 


1 


II 

1 ) 

,\ '-■'S ,n) 






Tfe Reason of Its 3 ucce ss. 

may be asked, how was the Rosary so successful 
in this religious revival ? To answer this it 
f;. is necessary to state some general principles, 
if .t Man is a dependent being. We must rely on 
God for our needs of soul and body. God is 
able and prepared to give us all necessaries, 
but He requires us to ask Him for them. Not 
that He may know our wants, but that we may 
pay Him the homage of prayer, and at the 
same time recognize our dependence on Him ; and, furthermore, 
that, by prayer, we may gain the grace and glory which prayer 
properly offered obtains. St. Thomas declares the doctrine of 
prayer in a few sentences, luminous as are all the principles of 
the Angel of the Schools. And would to God, his teaching on 
this point were better understood to-day ! “God,” says he, “has 
made our salvation, and the accomplishment of His designs which 
are full of love for His elect, and tend to their predestination, 
to depend on prayer.” “When we pray,” he adds, “it is not in 
order to change the decrees of God, but to fulfill them, and to 
obtain what He has resolved to grant to prayer alone, that thus 
men may deserve to receive by their prayers, what He had deter- 
mined to grant them from eternity out of His pure goodness.” 
From this we see that whilst God wills our sanctification and 



|j|f> 

fjt 


salvation, it is on condition that we make use of the means which 
He has appointed. Now one of the essential means is prayer. 
“Ask and you shall receive,” says our Lord. Do you refuse to 
ask, do you neglect to ask, then you cannot expect to receive, since 
you fail to employ the means appointed. If men are overcome 
by their passions, it is because they do not pray as they should 
pray. If to-day our illustrious Pontiff, Leo XIII, sees the want, 
the necessity of prayer for the salvation of the individual and of 
society, that want, that necessity were equally great in the Middle 
Ages. The Immaculate Mother of God brought to the world the 
remedy for its evils when she gave St. Dominic the Rosary. 

O blessed and ever glorious Mother of God ! you knew the evils 
of the Middle Ages, and ours as well ; you knew our poverty, our 
weakness, and in the love of your pure heart you gave us the sure 
means of enriching ourselves with grace ! 

Behold a form of prayer suited to every rank and state of life, 
Catholic, like the Church, addressing itself to the young and the 
old, capable of being used by the sinner as well as by the saint, 
by the illiterate beggar child as well as by the learned statesmen 
and doctors of science. Oh, gift of Mary, gift of Heaven ! How 
can we praise thee, O Blessed Mother, for this tender work of 
thy unbounded love, for the inheritance of Jesus Christ ! 

The sublime form of prayer taught St. Dominic by our Mother 
was not universally called the Rosary. By some it was called the 
Pater Nosters, which name still obtains in some parts of Europe. 
By others it is called the Psalter of Mary, because the entire 
Rosary contains one hundred and fifty Hail Marys, corresponding 
to the Psalter, or one hundred and fifty Psalms of David. 

As the word Rosary (in the Latin Rosarium) means a garden of 
roses, so Mary’s Rosary is a garden from which we can cull the 
choicest flowers for Heaven. 






I 



Advantages of tfye Ifosarn 


HE approval of the Church must ever be 
the guide and the support of her chil- 
" dren. The Indulgences granted to a 

arP illfPwv devotion are not only highly beneficial 
to the soul, helping to shorten the pen- 
■§# ances of those in God’s grace, but they 
are almost equally useful in directing 
the attention of the faithful to those 
devotions which the Church desires 
chiefly to encourage. Then let us remember that the Rosary 
of our Blessed Lady has received Indulgences greater and more 
numerous than any other practice of piety. Many devotions which 
have received great Indulgences have had these partially with- 
drawn by succeeding Popes ; whereas different Popes, including 
our present Holy Father, have formally ratified all the Indulgences 
that have ever been granted to the Rosary by any of their prede- 
cessors. We see these Indulgences increase the more earnestly 
the devotion is undertaken; thus, supposing a, person provides 
himself with a Rosary, has it blessed by any priest, and says any 
day five decades, he obtains an Indulgence of twenty-five days on 
every bead, besides the Indulgence granted to the devout recital 
of the Holy Name of Jesus ; supposing he perseveres in this prac- 
tice for a month, he obtains a Plenary Indulgence by approaching 


12 







553 EE 



Latent ckiffenfic Li^t of 
Ro^arc Indulgences. 

Granted by the Sovereign Pontiffs to the Confraternity of the Rosary and to all 
the Faithful reciting it, submitted to the Sacred Congregation of Indul- 
gences for examination and approved of, and confirmed by His Holiness, 
Leo XIII, August 29, 1899. 


Indulgences Granted to tt>e 
Members of tl)e Confra- 
ternity Only. 

I. 

Indulgences Granted to those who join the Confraternity. 

Plenary indulgence is granted to all those, who, having con- 
fessed and received Communion, become enrolled in the Confra- 
ternity (Gregory XIII, Gloriosi, 15 July, 1579). 

2. Plenary indulgence, to all those, who being duly enrolled and 
having confessed and received Holy Communion in the church or 
chapel of the Confraternity, recite a third part of the Rosary, and 
pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff (S. Pius V, Con- 
sueverant, 17 September, 1569). 

Note. — Those who have themselves enrolled in the Confra- 
ternity, can gain these indulgences either on the day of admission 
or on the following Sunday or Festival (S. C. Indulgences, 25 
February, 1848). 

14 


Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Reciting the Rosary. 

A. At any time of the year. 

3. Plenary Indulgences, once during life, is granted to all those 
who recite the Rosary in the course of the week in accordance with 
the laws of the Confraternity (Innocent VIII, 15 October. 1484). 

4. If they recite the entire Rosary, they gain all those Indul- 
gences, which in Spain are granted to those who recite the chaplet 
of the Blessed Virgin (Clement IX, Exponi nobis, 22 Feb., 
1668). 

5. Indulgence of fifty years, once in the day, is granted to 
those who recite a third part of the Rosary in the chapel of the 
Rosary or at least in that part of the church or public oratory, 
when one does not live in a place where the Confraternity is 
erected (Hadrian VI, Illius qui, 1 April, 1523). 

6. To those' who recite the Rosary three times in the week an 
indulgence of ten years and as many quarantines for each recita- 
tion (Leo X, Pastoris Aeterni, 6 October, 1520). 

7. Indulgence of seven years and as many quarantines each 
week is granted to those who recite the entire Rosary (S. Pius 
V, Consueverunt, 17 September, 1569). 

8. Indulgence of five years and as many quarantines, or 200 
days each time the name of Jesus, in the Hail Mary, is devoutly 
pronounced, whilst reciting the Rosary (Pius IX, Deer. S. C. 
Indulg., 14 April, 1856). 


9. Indulgence of two years for each of the three days of the 
week on which the third part of the fifteen mysteries is recited, 
provided the fifteen mysteries are said within the week (Clem- 
ent VII, Etsi temporalium, 8 May, 1534). 

10. Indulgence of three hundred days is granted to those who 
recite a third part of the Rosary. (Leo XIII, 29 August, 1899). 

11. Indulgence of one hundred days as often as a Rosarian 
induces another to recite the third part of the Rosary (Leo 
XIII, August 29, 1899). 

12. Indulgence of three hundred days, once in the day, for 
assisting on Sunday or feast days in a Dominican church at the 
exercise of reciting or singing processionally the decades of the 
Rosary before representations of the fifteen mysteries (S. C. 
Indulg., 21 May, 1892). 

B. On certain days of the year or festivals. 

13. Plenary indulgence, on the feast of the Annunciation is 
granted to Rosarians, who having confessed and received Com- 
munion recite the Rosary (St. Pius V. Injunctum nobis , June 
14, 1566). 

14. Indulgence of ten years and as many quarantines, on the 
feasts of the Purification, Assumption and Nativity of the Blessed 
Virgin, for the recitation of the Rosary (St. Pius V, loc. cit.). 

15. Indulgence of ten years and as many quarantines on the 
feasts of the Resurrection, Annunciation and Assumption of the 
Blessed Virgin for the recitation of the third part of the Rosary 

St. Pius V, Consueverunt , 17 September, 1569). 

16 






16. Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines on the 
remaining feasts of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, on which 
are commemorated the sacred mystery of the Rosary (viz., on the 
feasts of the Visitation B. V. M., Nativity of our Lord, Purifica- 
tion and Compassion B. V. M. [Friday after Passion Sunday], 
Ascension of our Lord, Pentecost and the feast of All Saints), 
provided the members recite at least a third part of the Rosary 
(St. Pius V, loc. cit.). 

1 7. Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines on the 
feasts of the Nativity, Annunciation and Assumption of the 
Blessed Virgin on condition they recite weekly the entire Rosary, 
in accordance with the statutes of the Confraternity (Sixtus 
IV, Pastor is Acterni, May 30, 1578; Leo X, Pastor is Aeterni, 
October 6, 1520). 

18. Indulgence of one hundred days on the feasts of the Purifi- 
cation, Annunciation, Visitation, Assumption and Nativity of the 
Blessed Virgin (Leo X, loc. cit.). 


Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Assisting at the 
Rosary Procession. 

19. Plenary Indulgence is granted to all those, who having con- 
fessed and received Communion, are present at the Procession on 






the first Sunday of the month and there pray for the intention of/- 
the Sovereign Pontiff and moreover visit the chapel of the Rosary 
(Gregory XIII, Ad augendam, October 24, 1577). 

Note.— T his indulgence may be gained by Rosarians who are 

traveling, or engaged in actual employment (v. g. soldiers in ' 

/// / 

actual service), for the recitation of the entire Rosary; the sick, 
however, or those lawfully impeded may gain this indulgence by 
recit.ing one third part of the Rosary (Gregory XIII, Cupi- 
entes, December 24, 1583). 

20. Plenary Indulgence to those taking part in the procession 
on the feasts of the Purification, Annunciation, Visitation, 
Assumption, Nativity, Presentation and Immaculate Conception 
of the Blessed Virgin (Pius IV, Dum Praeclara, February 28, 
1561), or on any day within the octave of these feasts (S. C. 
Ind., February 25, 1848). 

21. Indulgence of five years is granted to those assisting at the 
procession on the day in which [according to the custom at the 
Minerva in Rome] are distributed to young girls dowries out of 
the alms of the Confraternity (Gregory XIII, Desiderantes, 
March 22, 1580). 

22. Indulgence of one hundred days for assisting at the proces- 
sion taking place on certain fixed days (Gregory XIII, Cum 
sici^t, January 3, 1579). 




\fc>OOOOQOOOO<X)OOOC)0(l^y.')OOOOOC>~ 


pp ooooo ooooo o goo oo oo o o o o o oooool 


OOO OOOOOOOOOO 


23. Indulgence of sixty days for accompanying the usual pro- 
cessions of the Confraternity as well as all other processions tak- 
ing place with the authorization of the Ordinary, also for accom- 
panying the Blessed Sacrament when borne to the sick (Greg- 
ory XIII, Gloriosi, July 15, 1579). 

Note. — Sisters may have Rosary Procession through the 
cloister on the first Sunday of the month, but no one must take 
part except those living in the monastery (S. C. Ep. Reg. 1616 
et 1617). But if there is no procession of the Rosary, enclosed 
nuns, or those legitimately impeded by their rule from being pres- 
ent at the Rosary Procession, may gain all the indulgences by 
reciting a third part of the Rosary (S. C. I., 18 September, 
1862. 


Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Visiting the Church 
or Chapel of the Confraternity. 

24. Plenary Indulgence on the first Sunday of every month to 
those, who having confessed and received Communion visit the 
chapel or church of the Confraternity of the Rosary and there 
pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff (Gregory XIII, 
Ad augendam, March 12, 1 577 ) - 

Note. This indulgence may be gained by those Rosarians who 

on account of sickness are prevented from going to church, pro- 
vided that having previously confessed and received Communion 
they recite at home the Rosary before a devout image (t. e., a 
third part— S. C. Indulg., February 25, 1877, ad 6) ; or recite 


'OOOOOO 00 o 000 ooooooooooooocuyooooocioUo 


OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOC.O' 





(Gregory XIII, Ad 


devoutly the seven penitential psalms 
augendam, November 8, 1578). 

25. Plenary indulgence on the first Sunday of every month is 
granted to those who, having received the sacraments, for some 
space of time are present at the exposition of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment in the church of the Confraternity, when sanctioned by the 
Ordinary, and there pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pon- 
tiff (Gregory XVI, Ad augendam, December 17, 1833). 

26. Plenary Indulgence granted to those who having confessed 
and received Communion, visit the chapel of the Rosary or church 
of the Confraternity and there pray for the intention of the 
Supreme Pontiff, from the first Vespers to sunset, on the feasts 
of the Nativity of our Lord, Epiphany, Resurrection, Ascension 
and Pentecost: likewise on any two Fridays of Lent; also on the 
feast of All Saints and once within the octave of All Souls 
{Gregory XIII, Pastoris Aeterni, May 5, 1582; Gregory XVI, 
Ad augendam, December 17, 1833; S. C. Indulg., May 12, 1851). 

27. Plenary Indulgence on the same conditions, from the first 
Vespers to sunset on the following feasts of the Blessed Virgin, 
viz., the Immaculate Conception, Nativity, Presentation, Annun- 
ciation, Visitation, Purification, Assumption and on the feast of 


- « 



Gfv^-v, 


the Seven Dolors (Friday after Passion Sunday) (Gregory 
XIII, loc. cit.). 

Note a . — Plenary Indulgence on the feasts of the Immaculate 
Conception, Nativity, Presentation, Annunciation, Visitation, 
Purification and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, may be gained 
also during the octaves, but once only during each octave (S. 
C. Indulg., February 25, 1848). 

Note b . — Plenary Indulgence on the Festivals of Easter, 
Ascension and Pentecost, and on the feasts of the Immaculate 
Conception, Nativity, Annunciation, Visitation, Purification, Pre- 
sentation and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, also on the two 
Fridays of Lent, may be gained also by visiting any other church 
or public oratory (S. C. Indulg., May 12, 1851). 

Note c . — As regards those traveling, engaged in actual service, 
the sick or those otherwise lawfully impeded, for thegainingof the 
plenary indulgence granted to those visiting the Rosary chapel 
on the days on which the Mysteries of the Rosary are commem- 
orated, the same provision is made as exists for those who are 
unable to be present at the Rosary Procession (vid. No. 19 
above) (Sixtus V, Durn ineffabilia, January 30, 1586). 

28. Plenary Indulgence, on the same conditions, on the Sunday 
within the octave of the Nativity of the B. V. M. (Clement VIII, 
Ineffabilia, February 12, 1598). 

29. Plenary Indulgence, under the same conditions, on the 
third Sunday of April, from first Vespers to sunset (Gregory 
XIII, Cam sicut, January 3, 1579). 

30. Indulgence of seven years and seven quarantines granted to 
those, who, having confessed and received Communion, visit the 






chapel or altar of the Confraternity and there pray for the inten- 
tion of the Sovereign Pontiff, on the feasts of the Nativity of our 
Lord, Easter, Pentecost and on the feasts of the Immaculate Con- 
ception, Nativity, Annunciation, Visitation and Assumption of B. 
V. M. ; also on the feast of All Saints (Clement VIII, Salva- 
toris, January 13, 1593; De salute, January 18, 1593). 

31. Indulgence of a hundred days for each day when one visits 
the chapel or altar of the Rosary, and prays for the intention of 
the Sovereign Pontiff (Gregory XIII, Cum sicut, January 3, 
1579 ) • 

Note. — Nuns living within cloister, youth of both sexes living 
in colleges,- seminaries, boarding schools, in a word, all persons 
living in institutions so regulated that they are not free to go out 
at their own pleasure, moreover all members of Catholic societies 
— can gain all the indulgences for which is prescribed the visiting 
of the chapel or church of the Confraternity, provided being duly 
enrolled in the Confraternity they visit their own church or chapel 
or oratory (S. C. Indulg., August II, 1871; February 8, 1874). 

Rosarians who are sick or in any way impeded from receiving 
Holy Communion, or visiting the church or chapel, can gain all 
the indulgences for which the above conditions are prescribed, 
provided that having confessed and fulfilled the other conditions 


y 


o 



prescribed, they perform some pious work enjoined by their con- 
fessor. 

On certain feasts, in addition to the plenary indulgence, for 
visiting the church or chapel of the Rosary, a partial indulgence 
is also granted ; to gain the later, however, a special visit to the 
church or chapel is necessary. 

V. 

Indulgences Granted to Rosarians who Visit Five Altars. 

3 2. Rosarians who visit five altars of any church whatsoever, 
or of any public oratory, or five times visit one or two altars in 
churches where five do not exist, gain the same indulgences as 
if they had visited the stations at Rome (Leo X, May 22, 1518). 




Indulgences Granted to Those who Say or Hear the 
Votive Mass of the Most Holy Rosary. 


33. All indulgences granted to those reciting the entire Rosary 
may be gained by priests, who are members of the Confraternity, 
on condition that they celebrate the votive Mass according to the 
RomarTmissal “pro diversitate temporis” at the Rosary altar (the 
votive Mass may be said twice in the week*). Rosarians may gain 
the same indulgences by devoutly assisting at this Mass and pray- 
ing (Leo XIII, Ubi primum, 2 October, 1898). 

34. Once a month, on the day they receive Communion, having 
been to confession, those who regularly celebrate or hear the votive 

* On Wednesdays and Saturdays, except on first and second class feasts, and a few 
other special days. 

23 





Mass, can gain the same indulgences as those who assist at the 
usual Rosary procession* on the first Sunday of each month 
(Clement X, Caelestium munerum, February 16, 1671). 

35. An indulgence of one year is granted to those who assist in 
a body at Mass and are present for the sermon on the Blessed 
Virgin and the antiphon “Salve Regina” on the Saturdays of 
Lent (Gregory XIII, Desiderantes, March 22, 1580). 

VII. 

Indulgences Granted to Those who Make the Fifteen 
Saturdays in Honor of the Rosary. 

36. A Plenary indulgence can be gained on three of the fifteen 
Saturdays (the selection of these three days is left to the choice 
of each Rosarian) by confessing and communicating for fifteen 
consecutive Saturdays (either immediately preceding the feast of 
the Holy Rosary or any time within the year). Likewise 
Rosarians must visit a church of the Confraternity and during 
their visit pray for the intention of the Holy Father (S. C. 
Indulg., December 12, 1849). 

37. An indulgence of seven years and 280 days can be gained 


*Vid. 24. 

24 



^ on the twelve remaining Saturdays (C. S. Indulg., Deceml 
12, 1849). * 

VIII. 


Indulgences Granted to Those who Practice Certain 
Devotions During the Month of the Rosary. 

38. A Plenary Indulgence is gained for attending at least ten 
of the exercises which the Dominicans usually have in their 
churches during the month of October, on condition of the recep- 
tion of the sacraments and prayer for the Sovereign Pontiff. 
Rosarians may select whatever days are most convenient for these 
ten exercises (S. C. Indulg., 31 August, 1885). 

39. An indulgence of seven years and 280 days as often as 
Rosarians are present at the devotions held daily in Dominican 
churches during the month of October. (S. C. Indulg., August 


Indulgences Granted to Those who are Present at the 
Antiphon “ Salve Regina ” when it is Sung. 

40. An indulgence of three years and 120 days is granted to 
Rosarians who are present in a church of the Confraternity and 
hold a lighted candle during the singing of the “Salve Regina” 
(if it is not customary to have lighted candles, one Hail Mary 
must be said). The “Salve Regina”* is usually sung on those 
feasts of the B. V. M. which are celebrated by the Universal 

* In accordance with the Constitutions of the Friars’ Preachers, a part of the 
choral obligation is the singi ns-ef- the. “ Salve Regina” daily, after Compline. 


Church (S. C. Indulg., September 18, 1862, ad 4), also on the 
principal feasts of the Apostles and on the feasts of the Dominican 
Saints (Clement VIII, Ineffabilia, February 12, 1598). 

41. An indulgence of a hundred days is granted to Rosarians 
for every day of the year on which they are present for this 
antiphon after Compline (Clement VIII, loc. cit.). 

42. An indulgence of forty days on all Saturdays and feast days 
during the year (Leo X, Pastoris Aeterni, October 6, 1520). 

Note. — Those legitimately impeded from being present in the 
church for the singing of the “Salve” can gain the same indul- 
gences as indicated in Nos. 40 and 41 by reciting the antiphon 
while kneeling before an altar or an image of the Blessed Virgin 
(Clement VIII, Ineffabilia, February 12, 1598). 

X. 

Indulgences Granted to Rosarians who Meditate or 
Perform Other Spiritual Exercises. 

43. Plenary Indulgence once a month, if during the entire 
month they meditate daily for half an hour or at least a quarter 
of an hour, on condition also of their selecting some day of the 
month for the reception of the sacraments of Penance and of Holy 
Eucharist (Clement X, Ad ea, January 28, 1671). 

44. A Plenary Indulgence is granted, on condition that once 

during the year Rosarians devote themselves to prayer, mortifica- 
26 







tion and other good works for forty days, in memory of the forty 
days our Lord passed in the desert. The Plenar Indulgence can 
be gained but once in the year, and this on any day selected by 
Rosarians (Pius VII, Ad augendam, February 16, 1808). 

45. An indulgence of seven years and 280 days for each time 
that Rosarians meditate for half an hour (Clement X, Ad ea, 
January 28, 1671). 

46. An indulgence of one hundred days for each time Rosarians 
meditate for a quarter of an hour (Clement X, loc. cit.). 

XI. 

Indulgences Granted to Those who Visit the Sick 
Members of the Confraternity. 

47. An indulgence of three years and 120 days for each time 
that Rosarians visit members of the Confraternity (Clement 
VIII, Ineffabilia, February 12, 1598). 

48. An indulgence of one hundred days is granted Rosarians 
for exhorting sick members of the Confraternity, to receive the 
sacraments of the Church (Gregory XIII, Cum sicut, January 

3 . 1579 )- 

XII. 

Indulgences Granted to Those who Pray for the 
Deceased Members of the Confraternity. 

49. A Plenary Indulgence, provided Rosarians are present in 
churches of the Friars Preachers or chapels of Dominican Nuns 
for the recitation of the Office of the dead, usually chanted on the 
four anniversaries (February 4, July 12, September 5, November 
10*), together with the reception of the sacraments of Penance and 

* In the Dominican Breviary the 4 th of February is set apart for commemorating 
the anniversary of the deceased fathers and mothers of the members of the order, and 
July 12 th for those buried in Dominican cemeteries ; September 5 th for the deceased 
benefactors of the order ; November loth for the deceased brothers and sisters. 

27 




'< HM 73 



Holy Communion and prayer for the Sovereign Pontiff. This 
indulgence can be gained but once on each of the four days 
(Pius VII, Ad augendam, February 16, 1808). 

50. An indulgence of eight years is granted to Rosarians who 
take part in the procession for the dead, in the church of the Con- 
fraternity, or the cloister of the Convent, every Saturday, or at 
least once a month (Gregory XIII, Dcsiderantes, March 22, 
1580). 

51. An indulgence of three years and 120 days for each attend- 
ance at the funeral obsequies of Rosarians in a church of the 
Confraternity (Clement VIII, Ineffabilia, February 22, 1598). 

52. An indulgence of a hundred days is granted Rosarians, 
provided they are present with the banner of the Confraternity 
at the burial of a deceased member of the same association, or 
provided they are present at the anniversaries celebrated for the 
deceased members of the Confraternity and pray for the inten- 
tion of the Sovereign Pontiff (Gregory XIII, Cum sicut, Jan- 
uary 3, 1579). 

XIII. 




;ence Granted to Rosarians who Perform Works of 
Charity or Piety. 


53. An indulgence of sixty days each time that a member of the 
Confraternity performs some work of charity or piety (Greg- 
ory XIII, Gloriosi, July 15, 1579). 


Indulgence Granted Rosarians at the Hour of Death. 

54. A Plenary Indulgence can be imparted to Rosarians by a 
priest, even outside confession, using the prescribed formula, pro- 





vided they have recited weekly the Rosary (Innocent VIII, 
13 October, 1483. Decree of the S. C. Indulg., August 10, 1899). 

55. A Plenary Indulgence is granted those who have recited 
the entire Rosary at least once in their lives, on condition they 
have in their hand a blessed candle of the Rosary while departing 
from this life (Hadrian VI, Illius qui, April 1, 1523)- 

56. A Plenary Indulgence is granted to those who have 
received the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist (S. 
Pius V, Consueverunt, September 17, 1569). 

57. A Plenary Indulgence is granted to those who with contrite 
hearts invoke the name of Jesus, at least in their heart, if they can- 
not do so with their lips (Leo XIII, Rescr. S. C. Indulg., August 
19, 1899). 

58. A Plenary Indulgence is granted to those who having 
received the sacraments of the Church make profession of faith in 
the Roman Catholic Church, recite the “Salve Regina” and com- 
mend themselves to the Blessed Virgin (Clement VIII, Incffa- 
bilia, February 12, 1598). 

Note. — Although there are here indicated many plenary indul- 
gences to be gained at the hour of death, yet the interpretation of 
the Decrees of the S. C. of Indulgences is : that only one plenary 
indulgence can be gained at the hour of death and that by comply- 
ing with one or other of the conditions required above. 

XV. 

Indulgences Granted to Deceased Members of the 
Confraternity. 

59. In churches of the Friars Preachers the Rosary altar is 
privileged for priests of the Order in behalf of a deceased member 



=f 


Q)Ui 

CvOtC 



& P « 





of the Confraternity (Gregory XIII, Omnium saluti, Septem- 
ber i, 1582). 

60. In churches of the Confraternity the Rosary altar is privi- 
leged for priests who are members of the Confraternity not only 
in behalf of a deceased Rosarian but in behalf of any one dead, 
although there is another privileged altar in the church. But if 
there is no other privileged altar, then the Rosary altar is privileged 
for all priests, even though they are not members of the Confra- 
ternity, and in behalf of any one dead (S. C. Indulg., Camera- 

cen, June 7, 1842: Pius IX, Omnium saluti, March 3, 1857). 

30 







WlPn 





’Indulgences That Can be 
Gained bx Rosarians and 
tf)e Paitf)ful in General 



61. An indulgence of seven years and 280 days can be gained 
on the first Sunday of each month by being present at the Rosary 
Procession (S. Pius V, Consueverunt, September 17 1569). 

62. A Plenary Indulgence, in memory of the victory gained 
over the Turks near the Echinades Islands through the aid of the 
Rosary, can be gained for each visit* made to the Rosary chapel 
(or to the image of the B. Virgin there exposed for veneration — 
S. C. Indulg., January 25, 1866), from the first Vespers of the 
Feast of the Most Holy Rosary until the setting of the sun on the 
feast itself, by all who, having approached the sacraments, pray 
for the intention of the Supreme Pontiff (S. Pius V., Salva- 
toris, March 5, 1572; S. C. Indulg., April 5, 1869; July 7, 1885). 

Note. — It is permitted to go to confession on the Friday imme- 
diately preceding the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary in order to 
gain the above indulgence (Leo XIII, Rescr. S. C. Indulg., 
August 19, 1899). 

63. A Plenary Indulgence on any day selected within the octave 
of the feast of the Holy Rosary, can be gained by all who visit the 
Rosary chapel or the statue of the Blessed Virgin, and who during 
their visit pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff 


* Each visit must be distinct, that is, one must leave the church after each visit. It 
is also necessary to pray for the intention of the Pope on every visit. 

31 














(Benedict XIII, Pretiosus, May 20, 1727; S. C. Indulg., July 7, 
1885). 

64. A Plenary Indulgence under the same conditions can be 
gained on the feast of Corpus Christi and on the feast of the 
Titular Saint of the church (Gregory XIII, Desiderantes, 
March 22, 1580). 

65. All and each of the indulgences indicated in the above list 
may be applied to the souls of the faithful departed who are 
united to God by the bond of charity, except, however, the plenary 
indulgence at the h<~ " of death (Innocent XI, Ad ea, June 15, 

1679). 

Decree. 

The Master General of the Order of Preachers, in compliance 
with the mandate of article XV I of the Apostolic Constitution 
Ubi Primum issued last year, having drawn up a new list of 
indulgences to be revised by this Sacred Congregation, this same 
Congregation with the aid of its consultors has examined the 
above list with the greatest care. And having after mature deliber- 
ation judged that certain things should be eliminated, added, 
explained or more briefly expressed, this same Congregation 
through the undersigned Cardinal Prefect submitted to his Holi- 
ness, Leo XIII, for approbation all those modifications to be made 
in the aforesaid catalogue. His Holiness, in the audience of 29th 
of August, 1899, ratified the above changes, and at the same time 
approved the new catalogue in all its parts and confirmed by his 

Apostolic authority and as far as necessary granted anew all the 
32 








indulgences containe«i^ten^i,'^de'cTeei#lg^3.^^e sime time that all 
the indulgences granted to^theMJonfraterhities of the Rosary not 
contained in the present catalogue, are to be considered as abro- 
gated and revoked, so that all Sodalities of the Holy Rosary 
hitherto established by the Master General of the Order of 
Preachers shall enjoy those indulgences only which are inserted in 
the present catalogue ; all things whatsoever to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

Given in Rome at the Secretariate of the same Congregation, 
August 29, 1899. 

Fr. Jerome M. Card. Gotti, Prefect. 

Lf Sf A. Sabatucci, Archbishop of Antin, Sec. 





sSammarq of Indalgences 

Granted to all the Faithful for the Devotion of the Most 
Holy Rosary. 


1. Plenary Indulgence once in the year is granted to all who 
recite daily at least a third part of the Rosary and receive the 
Sacraments, on any day which they choose, provided they use a 
Rosary blessed by a Dominican or by a priest having faculties 
from the Master of the Order (Raccolta, Edit., 1898, No. 
194). 

2. Indulgence of one hundred days for each “Our Father,” and 
each “Hail Mary” is granted to those who recite the entire Rosary 
or at least a third part, provided the Rosary used is blessed by a 
Dominican or by one having Dominican faculties (Ibid.). 

3. Indulgence of five years and 200 days for the recitation of 
one-third part of the Rosary (Ibid.). 

4. Indulgence of ten years and 400 days once a day for those 
who together with others either at home or in the church or in 

34 €v//jt 





O OClOOO OOOOOQC 


^&>oooo<>ooooooooooo<:>^oooooo(l 


pooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo' 


OOO OOnOOOOOOOl 


some oratory, public or private, recite at least a third part of the 
Rosary (Ibid.). 

5. Plenary Indulgence on the last Sunday of each month for 
all those who recite in union with others at least three times in 
the week, the third part of the Rosary, either at home or in the 
church or in some oratory ; and who, on the aforesaid last Sunday, 
having received the Sacraments, visit some church or public ora- 
tory and there pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff 
(Ibid.). ' 

6. Plenary Indulgence can be gained on any one of the fifteen 
consecutive Saturdays by the faithful, who on the aforesaid Sat- 
urdays receive the Sacrament and recite a third part of the Rosary 
or devoutly meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary (Raccolta, 
edit, eit., No. 197). 

Note. — As often as the faithful are lawfully impeded from 
performing the above exercise on Saturdays, they can, without 
losing the indulgences, perform it on Sundays (Ibid.). 

7. Indulgence of seven years and 280 days on all the Saturdays 
not included in the preceding number (t. e, on the remaining four- 
teen Saturdays) (Ibid.). 

8. Plenary Indulgence may be gained by all those who at any 
time of the year make a novena in honor of the Queen of the 
Most Holy Rosary, reciting prayers approved by legitimate 
authority, provided that on any day on which they choose, either 
within the nine days or within eight days immediately following 




the novena, being truly penitent and having confessed and com- 
municated they pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff 
(Raccolta, Edit, cit., No. 149) : 

9. Indulgence of three hundred days for all the other days of 
the novena on which they say the above prayers (Ibid.) 


For Those Reciting the Third Part of the Rosary 
During the Month of October. 


The following indulgences have been granted in perpetuity by 
our Holy Father, Leo XIII (September 1, 1883 — August 20, 1885 
—July 23, 1898). 

10. Plenary Indulgence is granted to all those who on the feast 
of our Lady of the Rosary, or on any day within the octave, receive 
the Sacraments, visit some church or oratory and there pray for 
the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff, provided that on the feast 
itself and each day within the octave, either publicly or privately 
they recite a third part of the Rosary. 

11. Plenary Indulgence is granted to all those who, after the 
octave of the feast of the Most Holy Rosary at least ten times 
within the same month of October, either publicly in some church 





or privately recite a third part of the Rosary, and who on any 
day they choose receive the Sacraments, visit some church and 
there pray for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. 

12. Indulgence of seven years and 280 days for each day of 
the month of October on which the faithful, either publicly in 
some church or privately, recite a third part of the Rosary. 

13. All the indulgences contained in this summary are appli- 
cable to the souls in Purgatory (Raccolta, edit, cit., p. 22, 
No. 4). 

The Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics 
has recognized as authentic and permitted to be published the 
present Summary of Indulgences granted to all the faithful for 
devotion to the most Holy Rosary. 

Given in Rome at the Secretariate of the same Sacred Congre- 
gation, August 29, 1899. 

Fr. Jerome M. Card Gotti, Prefect. 

Lf Sf A. Sabatucci, Archbishop of Antin, Sec. 

37 





o o - 




Part^ of tf)e Piosara. 


HE entire Rosary is composed of fifteen 
decades, or mysteries, divided into three 
parts, known as the Joyful, the Sorrowful, 
and the Glorious Mysteries. In honor of 
each mystery a decade is recited, that is, 
one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, and one 
Glory be to the Father. 


is a Wusterq ? 

HE Rosary consists of fifteen mysteries. 
What is a mystery in the religious sense 
of the word? It is a revealed truth 
that we can partly understand, but 
which contains more truth than the 
brain of man can comprehend in this 
life. There are many mysteries in 
nature, the development of a plant 
from a seed, the attraction of gravita- 
tion, or the power and swiftness of the electrical current. We 
can see the results. We cannot understand how they are caused, 
but we know from what we see that these powers exist. So 
it is with mysteries of religion. We do not fully understand 
them, yet we know they are true. Why? Because we have 
God’s word for it conveyed to us by His Church which cannot 
err. But the question is often asked why should God expect us 
to believe what we cannot fully understand? Because He wants 
us to have faith. He wants us to have the unwavering trust of 
a child. Did He not say to the doubting Thomas, “Blessed are 
they who believe and who have not seen”? A child believes im- 
plicitly in a human father, one who can make mistakes, you are 
asked to believe in an all-wise, omnipotent Father who cannot de- 
ceive or be deceived. One who can never be in error. Will you 
refuse to do it? 



40 








Tf)e nece^itQ of AYeditation. 


practice the devotion as taught by our 
Blessed Mother, it is necessary to medi- 
tate on the mysteries, either immediately 
before the decade or during its recital. 
To advance in virtue, vocal prayer is not 
sufficient ; meditation is necessary. Reli- 
gious must meditate in order to attain the 
perfection of their state; seculars must 
meditate in order that the great truths of 
religion may sink deep into their souls. Indeed, the more one is 
exposed to the turmoil and the trials of life the more he needs to 
meditate. Jeremiah says, “With desolation is all the land made 
desolate, because no one thinks in his heart.” One of the holy 
fathers says, “It is impossible to keep God’s commandments with- 
out imprinting deeply the truths of religion on our souls by medi- 
tation, and causing those truths to spread their roots in our 
hearts.” No matter what our disposition, there are certain truths 
of religion on which all can meditate. These are the Mysteries 
of the Rosary. All can sit at the foot of the Cross and meditate 
with Mary on the sufferings of Jesus. There they behold at once 
the justice of God demanding such satisfaction, the enormity of 
sin requiring such atonement, the love of our Redeemer for us 
miserable sinners, and the shameful ingratitude of those who 
never think of that sacrifice of love. 

Each decade, like David’s harp of ten strings, gives a heavenly 

melody that delights the heart of our Immaculate Mother. 

42 




©« > l ){ >^>0 <■><>*• 





Days on vf)id) tl)e Different 
Masteries are to be 5aid. 


HE Joyful Mysteries are assigned to all 
tv/HP Mondays and Thursdays in the year, 
and to the Sundays from first Sunday 
°f Advent to the first Sunday of Lent. 

B j The Sorrowful are assigned to all 
. Tuesdays and Fridays, and to the Sun- 
C^nf YF^, days in Lent. The Glorious are 

assigned to all Wednesdays and Satur- 
days, and to the Sundays from Easter 

to Advent. 

We shall now consider the different prayers of the Rosary. 



Explanation « of « tl>e 
Praters ® of ® tl)e 

Rosary. 


Oar Patter 


UR FATHER!” At this first word of the 
k Lord’s Prayer the heart melts with love. 

»M God wishes to be our father by a par- 

He has an only Son 


ticular adoption 
who is equal to Him in whom He has 

P laced a11 His deli £ ht: He ado P ts sin_ 
I ners ‘ Let us dien l° ve such a Father, and 
sa y a thousand and a thousand times: 
“Our Father, Our Father, Our Father, 
shall we not love Thee? shall we not be Thy true children pene- 
trated by Thy Paternal tenderness” ? 

“Our Father who art in Heaven !” Thou art everywhere, but 
Thou art in Heaven as in a place where Thou dost assemble Thy 
children, where they see Thee face to face, where Thou dost 
manifest to them Thy glory, where Thou hast assigned to them 
their inheritance. “Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, 
thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!” This is the per- 
petual continuation of the exercise of loving. 

To sanctify the name of God is to glorify Him in all things, and 







to live only for His glory. To desire this reign, is to submit to 
Him with all our heart ; and to desire that He should reign over 
us, and not only over us, but also over every other creature. 

But who among us desires the reign of God? Who among us 
says from the bottom of his heart, “Thy kingdom come”? Never- 
theless, it is to prompt us to this desire that we are taught to say 
“Our Father who art in Heaven.” Heaven is our home, our dwell- 
ing-place, since it is the home of our Father. We are not then in 
good faith when we say “Thy kingdom come or, what signifies 
the same, “May thy kingdom come to us.” 

What stifles in us this desire which should be so natural to 
Christians, is our love of the world and the pleasures of the world. 
We love this life full as it is of evils, and, full of sin which is the 
greatest of all evils. Let us break these sinful ties that bind us 
to earth, and say with lively emotions of faith : “Thy will be 
done.” This is the only true and perfect exercise of divine love — 
to conform ourselves to the holy will of God. 

“Our Father who art in Heaven !” There Thou art loved, and 
for this reason all are happy who do Thy will. May what is done 
in Heaven be done on earth. 

“Give us this day our daily bread,” is the language of a child 
who with confidence asks his father to satisfy all his wants, even 
the smallest. Our Father ! Thou hast given us a mortal body, but 
Thou didst not thus create it at first. We disobeyed Thee, and 
death has become our portion. This infirm and mortal body every 
day needs support without which it will decay and perish. Let 
us daily cry out : Oh ! give us this bread ; give to us as much only 
as is necessary, that we may learn, bv our need, who it is that 
nourishes us from day to day. 

Another version has it, “Give us this day our supersubstantial 

bread :” by which is to be understood the Eucharistic bread. O 
46 











God, give it to us this day, give it to us every day ! Would that 
we were worthy to communicate each time that we assist at Mass ! 
The table is prepared, but the guests are wanting. O Jesus! do 
Thou call them. Let us then desire this bread of life, let us 
desire it with ardor and avidity ! Those who hunger and thirst 
after justice desire it; all graces abound in this banquet, and the 
most perfect act of love is to desire incessantly to receive Jesus 
Christ in Holy Communion. 

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass 
against us !’’ It is astonishing, how God makes the pardon which 
we expect from Him depend on that which He commands us to 
grant to those who have offended us. Not content with inculcat- 
ing this obligation, He puts it on our lips in our daily prayer; 
so that if we fail to forgive, He will say to us as to the wicked 
servant in the Gospel : “Out of thy own mouth I will judge thee.” 
( Luke xix, 22.) Thou didst ask pardon of me on condition that 
thou also shouldst pardon thy brother : since thou refusedst to par- 
don him, I refuse thee pardon. Go to that miserable abode where 
there is neither pardon nor mercy. 

“Lead us not into temptation !” We pray, not only to be de- 
livered from temptation, but to be preserved from it, according to 
this sentence, “Watch ye and pray lest ye enter into temptation.” 
{Matt, xxvi, 41.) Not only for fear of yielding but for fear of 
entering into temptation. 

“Deliver us from evil !” Deliver us from sin and from all the 
effects of sin : consequently, from sickness, from sorrow, and from 
death that we may be perfectly free. Then we shall be perfectly 
happy. Another version of these words, deliver us from evil, is : 
“Deliver us from the devil, our enemy, and from all his tempta- 
tions.” 

47 
















Tf)e Mail I\ ara. 

N the sixth month of Elizabeth s pregnancy 
the Angel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth, 
a small town of Galilee, to a virgin 
espoused to a man named Joseph of the 
house of David. And the name of the 
virgin was Mary. When we behold the 
Angel Gabriel sent, we very naturally 
expect something new, some great news 
regarding the coming of the Saviour. 
When God wished to make known to Daniel, “the man of desires, 
the near approach of the Saint of Saints, who was to be the 
anointed, the immolated, this same angel was sent to him. We 
also see him sent to Zacharies, and, at the very name of this celes- 
tial messenger, our desires for the Christ of the Lord should be 
renewed with transports of joy. 

It was not into Jerusalem, the royal city, nor into the temple, 
nor into the sanctuary, which is the most sacred part of the tem- 
ple, nor among those who exercise functions wholly divine, that 
this angel was at this especial time sent; neither was he sent to 
a man celebrated for his lofty virtue, or for the dignity of his 
position or the splendor of the sacerdotal race, but to a city of 
Galilee, one of the least noted provinces, to a small town the 
name of which is scarcely known; it w r as to the wife of a man 
who, like herself, was indeed of the royal stock of David but 
’48 








reduced to the state of an humble artisan. He was not sent to 
Elizabeth whose virtues shone through the consideration of her 
husband : this was not the case with Mary who was chosen to be 
the mother of Jesus Christ, for she was the wife of a poor unknown 
carpenter. Tradition tells us that she herself gained her liveli- 
hood by the labor of her hands ; which is the reason why our 
Divine Lord is called by the holy fathers : Fabri et quaestuariae 
filius. She is not the wife of a celebrated man : “She had espoused 
a man named Joseph, and she was called Mary.” Exteriorly, this 
second embassy of the angel seems less illustrious than the 
former, but, by penetrating its depths, it is by far the most 
sublime. 

The holy ambassador begins with these words, “Hail full of 
grace !” that is, one who is most agreeable to God, and full of his 
heavenly gifts ; “The Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among 
women.” This discourse is of a far higher character than that 
which was addressed to Zacharias, for he begins by saying, “Fear 
not,” as if speaking to a man who had grounds for fear ; and con- 
tinues with these words : “Your prayers are heard.” But Mary’s 
salutation far surpasses this in its excellence and sublimity. 
Mary humble, retired, little in her own eyes, thought not that an 
angel could salute her, and more especially with such marvellous 
words : it is her humility alone that throws her into trouble. But 
the angel quickly adds : “Fear not, Mary.” He did not com- 
mence his salutation by these words, as we have seen above in 





the case of Zacharias; but when Mary had manifested 
trouble caused by her humility alone, it was necessary that he 
should ^remove her fears by saying : “Do not fear, Mary, you 
have found grace before the Lord; you shall conceive and bring 
forth a son.” Your miraculous conception, O Virgin, shall be fol- 
lowed by a birth most astonishing ! 

There are some who conceive, but they never bring forth. Some 
conceive only sterile and unfruitful thoughts. Grant, O Lord, 
that, like Mary, we may conceive and bring forth Jesus Christ. 
As long as Jesus Christ, that is, perfect virtue, is not in us, ours 
is but a feeble and imperfect conception. It is necessary that 
Jesus Christ should take birth in our souls by true and solid virtue, 
and it should be accomplished by us in accordance with the rule 
of the Gospel. 



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TI)e Fifteen Excellencies of 
tl)e Mail I\am. 


blessed Alanus de la Roche, commenting 
on these words of scripture, “Sing to the 
Lord a new canticle,” says that this new 
canticle is the canticle of the “Hail Mary.” 
He, moreover, adds, that these words, 
LaucLate eum in psalterio, “Praise the 
Lord on the psaltery,” may be understood 
by us Christians as the psalter of Mary; 
for as the psaltery had ten chords which 
emitted harmonious sounds, so the ten Hail Marys of each decade 
bear to Heaven the chant of infinite praise. See how, from the 
doctors, he explains the fifteen excellencies of the Hail Mary : — 

1. When the Angelical Salutation was pronounced God be- 

came incarnate. (St. Anselm.) 

2. Mary became the Mother of God : a grace beyond which 

God could do nothing greater in a creature. (St. 
Thomas.) 

3. The devil was overcome. (St. Augustine.) 

4. The world was renewed. (St. Jerome.) 

5. Hell was deprived of new prey. (St. Basil.) 

6. Sin was remitted. (St. Gregory.) 

51 







7. Virtue was repaired. ( Remigius .) 

8. Wisdom returned to the world. (St. Fulgentius.) 

9. The infirm were cured. (St. Damascus.) 

10. The dead were resuscitated. (Didymus.) 

11. Eternal salvation was obtained. (St. Gregory Nasianzen.) 

12. Celestial goods were repaired. (St. Gregory.) 

13. The Holy Trinity was appeased. (St. Ambrose.) 

14. Captives were delivered. Slaves were ransomed. 

15. Those who were seated in darkness and in the shadow of 

death saw the light of salvation which enlighteneth all 
men that come into the world. (St. Chrysostom.) 


t 




HE ten Hail Marys end with the Glory be 
to the Father, which is an act of 
supreme homage to the Blessed Trinity, 
and an acknowledgment of our belief 
that the Three Divine Persons in one 
God have existed for all time without 
beginning and will exist for all eter- 
nity without ending. The Father, the 
Son and the Holy Ghost, each distinct 
from the other, yet each equal to the other in power, immensity, 
and all other perfection. Having one and the same Divine 
Nature or essence. This is a mystery that the human reason 
cannot understand or explain. A mystery that we will fully under- 
stand only when we have left this world and are admitted to the 
light of His presence. As we adored God the Father in the Lord’s 
Prayer and acknowledged the Incarnation of Jesus Christ the Son 
and the Redemption in the Hail Mary so do we conclude each mys- 
tery of the Rosary with this prayer proclaiming our belief in 
the Adorable Trinity “As it was in the beginning is now and 
ever shall be world without end, amen.” 

53 




'■rt-H&SO 










Tl)e Apostles’ Creed 


f ER the great work of man’s redemption had 
been consummated by the Resurrection 
and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ 
and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the 
apostles, scattered by persecution, went 
their separate ways to preach to all nations, 
as they had been commanded ; but previous 
to their separation, they agreed on a 
declaration of the principles of their belief, 
that would serve as a symbol of their faith, to distinguish them 
from unbelievers, as well as giving a concise statement of the 
grand doctrines of Christianity. 

Thus was composed the Apostles’ Creed, which we still say 
daily in our prayers. It is divided into twelve parts, which we will 
consider separately. 

** I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of 
Heaven and Earth.” 


Who that has eyes to see, or ears to hear, can doubt the ex- 
istence of an almighty Creator? The Heavens, the e&rth and 




all things therein bear eloquent testimony to His power. Have 
you ever looked around you at the grandeur of the earth under 
the noonday sun? Have you ever stood under the starlit sky on 
the shores of the mighty restless ocean? Whether you see the 
radiant sun, filling with glory the forest and the plain, or see the 
pale moon casting her silvery rays on a sleeping world, there must 
come to you a feeling of indescribable awe and solemnity. What 
am I, O my God, that these beauties should be created for me? 

If the good that is in us, the soul, the image of God, can be filled 
with rapture at the sight of these earthly beauties hampered 
though that soul is by its union with the carnal desires and animal 
passions of our physical being, what must be the ecstatic bliss it 
enjoys, when, released by death from its earthly habitation, it is 
permitted to enter into the eternity of celestial happiness pre- 
pared for those who serve God. 

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the 
mind of man to conceive of the beauties of that Heaven that shall 
be ours, for all eternity, if the few years spent here are devoted 
to His service. 

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord. 

How all conceptions of earthly grandeur fade into nothingness 

when compared to the throne of light where Jesus Christ, the Son 

of God, sacrificed for our redemption, is seated with His Heavenly 

Father! The brow, once bleeding-from the crown of thorns, is 

now adorned with a crown of gold. The hands once pierced with 

nails now hold the sceptre. Jesus Christ who on earth was poor, 

55 





meek, patient and long-suffering, is now a King. The King of 
kings. 

And this King of kings, this God of infinite dignity and majesty 
is our mediator. He who has all power, as one of the three 
Divine Persons, He is ready to help us and to make intercession 
for us with His Heavenly Father. How grateful we should be ! 
“Ask and ye shall receive.” We have but to ask, and the treasures 
of Heavenly grace will be ours. If we but seek Jesus when we are 
tempted, all the powers of hell cannot prevail against us. This is 
our faith. Be true to it. Pray that all the world may be led by 
divine grace to believe in Jesus Christ, Our Lord. 

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the 
Virgin Mary. 

We believe that the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, 
through the supernatural agency of the Holy Spirit, became man, 
and that He selected the Virgin Mary to become His Mother, and 
His name is Jesus Christ. God, the Son, did this because of His 
infinite mercy and love. The fall of our first parents had con- 
demned the human race to death because they had offended an 

infinite God. Sin derives its enormity from Him against whom 
56 





it is committed and as He is infinite the atonement to be made 
for sin must be infinite. This reparation, we finite beings could 
not make, hence we would have been forever lost had not God 
the Son, came down from Heaven and became man that He might 
save us. 

The moment that Mary gave her consent the work of redemp- 
tion was begun, and the gates of Heaven, closed since Adam’s 
fall, prepared to open. Mary’s prompt obedience to the will of 
God, is an example we should follow. To make His will our guid- 
ing principle is the secret of true virtue. Think of this when 
you say the Rosary. When you say, “Thy will be done,” say it 
from your heart and ask the Blessed Virgin to obtain for you the 
grace to imitate her obedience. 


Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead 
and buried. 


What thoughts this sentence calls up! See Jesus staggering 
along the rugged ascent to Calvary, bearing on His lacerated 
shoulders the weight of His cross. See His weary limbs give 
way, and He falls ; every wound reopened inflicting new tortures 
on that disfigured, bloodstained body. See Him on the cross, 
hanging there three hours in bitter agony, His lips parched with 
thirst, His eyes blinded by the blood trickling from His wounded 



head. See the unfeeling crowd, mocking, jeering and deriding 
His sufferings. 

Did you ever stop to think that every time you sin, you join 
this crowd of Christ’s enemies and mock at His sufferings? When 
you sin you stand at the foot of the cross and say, “Yes, Jesus, 
you have undergone this torture to obtain Heaven for me, but I 
care nothing for your agony. I prefer to sin and suffer the con- 
sequences.” 

Ask Mary who stood at the foot of the cross with her heart 
pierced with the sword of sorrow, to intercede for you that you 
may never be so cruel as to mock at the Saviour who laid down 
His life for you. 

He descended into hell, the third day he rose again 
from the dead. 

With Adam’s fall, Heaven was closed to mankind, but God 
would not condemn to hell the just, who had died before Christ’s 
coming. They were waiting in the place called Limbo. What joy, 
what jubilation must have been felt by those holy souls, waiting 
perhaps for hundreds of years for the coming of the Redeemer ! 
What bliss must have been theirs when Christ came, after His 
death released them, and opened for them the gates of Paradise ! 

At last have sin, death and the world been conquered. Jesus 
has risen from the dead. Alleluia. Let us rejoice ! Now He has 

proven that He is God. His Resurrection is one of the chief proofs 
53 




of His divinity. The Church has always honored this as one of 
her most solemn festivals. 

Christ’s resurrection is our hope. However dead to God’s grace 
we may be, however deeply we may be buried in sin, Christ can 
raise us. He wishes to do so, and He will if we but ask Him. 
Do you think so little of your eternal salvation that you will not 
come to Him and ask grace to follow in His footsteps? We will 
rise gloriously if we but imitate His example. “For as the suffer- 
ings of Christ abound in us, so also by Christ does our comfort 
abound, knowing that He who raised up Jesus will raise us up 
also with Jesus. ” 

He ascended into Heaven, sitteth at the right hand of 
God, the Father Almighty. 

Forty days after Christ rose from the dead He rejoined His 
Father in Heaven. As God, the second Person of the Blessed 
Trinity, He had always been in Heaven, but as Man only since 
the day of ascension. What an honor to us this is! Jesus Christ 
sits in the place of honor and glory at the right hand of God. 
When Christ ascended to Heaven, Mary’s heart was filled to 
overflowing with happiness and joy. She heard the angels wel- 
coming the King to His throne of glory in Heaven. She wit- 
nessed the triumph of her son. 

Mary was left on earth for a time that she might comfort the 
apostles, sustain them in their trials, and advise them as to what 
He would desire, when doubts and difficulties arose. For no one 
knew as she did, how to impart sweet consolation to those in 
trouble. No one knew like her the desires of Jesus Christ. She 
was the mother of the disciples. “Woman, behold thy son; son, 
behold thy mother.” She is our mother also. Always have re- 
course to her in time of trouble. She will never forsake you. 

59 











From thence He shall come tc 
the dead, 


What a terrible day that will be when the Divine Judge appears 
in all His power and majesty in the clouds of Heaven ! The dead 
will rise from their graves, the virtuous rejoicing and the wicked 
in fear and trembling. On which side will the angels place me? 
With the elect or with those who are condemned to everlasting 
punishment? If nothing else would move us to do good, if reflec- 
tions on God’s bounty were in vain, if meditation on Christ’s 
sufferings for us were without effect, then this consideration of 
that judgment from which there is no appeal, that condemnation 
we cannot evade, should cause us to make our peace with God. 
As you die, so shall you be judged. Die in mortal sin and you 
are damned forever. Are you in mortal sin now? Suppose you 
should die before morning, what would be your fate? In all 
things remember your last end and you will never sin. 




I believe in the Holy Ghost, 


After the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost, the third Per- 
son of the Blessed Trinity descended on the apostles, they were 
changed men. Jesus Christ had obtained for us by His death on 
the Cross innumerable graces. The Holy Ghost enlightened the 
apostles as to how they should be dispensed to the world. The 
Holy Ghost, as our catechism teaches us, gives the faithful seven 
gifts, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, 
Piety and Fear of the Lord. 

The body becomes the temple of the Holy Ghost when in con- 
firmation the Bishop, the successor of the apostles, lays his hands 
on you. Beware of defiling it. Would you dare to defile the 
tabernacle in which Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Blessed 




Trinity, reposes? If not, why do you defile with sins of impurity 
your own body, the temple of the Holy Ghost, the third Person of 
the Blessed Trinity. Remember Christ’s words: “Blessed are 
the pure in heart for they shall see God.” 

The Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints. 

God requires that to obtain salvation men should believe the 
truths He has revealed and in order that these truths might be 
handed down through all ages in their pristine purity, it was neces- 
sary that some recognized authority should be established to com- 
municate them to the succeeding generations. That authority 
is the Roman Catholic Church. Established when Christ said : 
“Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church.” He 
gave to Peter and the other apostles the plan upon which His 
church was to be built. That church, against which the gates 
of hell cannot prevail, is still with us in undiminished vigor, still 
laboring with untiring energy for the salvation of souls. Not only 
here on earth, but forming one vast communion with those who 
have departed. The communion of saints, by which the prayers 
of the saints and the good works of the faithful here are united 
to ask pardon from God for those suffering in Purgatory. 

How beautiful, such a church is ! All Christians in Heaven, on 
earth, and in Purgatory belong to it. We are one family. How 
happy we should be that God has conferred this precious gift of 
faith on us ! Never be ashamed of it, nor act in such a way that it 
need be ashamed of you. 








The Forgiveness of Sins, 


When Jesus Christ said to His apostles: ‘‘Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost. Whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them. 
Whose sins ye shall retain, they are retained.” He gave them 
and their successors the power to forgive sin. He did this be- 
cause He wished men to be reconciled to God. No one will deny 
that God can, if it pleases Him, give to man this power to forgive 
sins in His name. That He did so the scriptures abundantly 
prove. 

This is a sublime act of mercy on the part of God. He knew 
that on account of the depravity of our fallen nature, man was 
liable to sin, and having sinned, could not enter Heaven. So He 
instituted the Sacrament of Penance, where man’s sins could be 
washed away. But note the conditions — Perfect horror and de- 
testation of sin : an humble, contrite self-accusation to an author- 
ized priest; the making restitution to God by penitential prayers 
and good works ; to our neighbor, by repairing any scandal we 
have caused and restoring his property, if we have wronged him, 
and a firm resolution to avoid sin in the future. 

How. good the Almighty has been to us, giving us such means 
to return to His grace after we have offended Him by sin. Show 
your appreciation by going frequently and fervently to confession. 

The Resurrection of the Body. 

In this world the body shares in the sins we commit as well as 

in the penances we undergo. Is it not right and just that the body 

should partake of the punishment or reward to be meted out to us 

in the next world? At the last day, therefore, will the body and 

soul be reunited. How anxiously will the just and the elect long 

for this resurrection. Then will their glory shine in the light of 
62 


day. Then, when the book of conscience is open and displayed 
to the world, the good will be repaid for having withstood the 
corruptions and vices to which they were exposed. But the sinner, 
he will be confounded and troubled. He will be filled with fear 
and trembling. All the vices of his life will be exposed to the 
world. 

Would you care to have your secret sins published to the world ? 
They will be at the last day. Your most secret thoughts and 
desires. Purify your mind and your heart that you may not suffer 
condemnation. Live piously if you would rise to eternal glory. 

And Life Everlasting. Amen. 

Eternity. Who can conceive what it is? Joy without ending, 
for the good. Pain, without ending, for the wicked. What a 
glorious thought it is, that a little self-denial here, for a few short 
years, will merit for us an eternity of happiness ! Bliss without 
end. No trouble. No sorrow. No pain. And yet men will sacri- 
fice this and exchange it for millions of centuries of excruciating 
agony for the gratification of their passions. Which will you do? 
Where will your eternity be spent ? Reflect on this every time you 
say the Creed, and may God in His mercy grant that you may 

elect to follow Christ’s footsteps and merit everlasting life. 

63 










History of the Rosary, its Origin and Propagation 

By 

Rev. c. H. McKenna, O. p. 



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HIJ Rosary is one of the most beautiful, most 
profitable, and most popular of all devotions. 
It was revealed to St. Dominic by the 
divine Mother herself, about the beginning 
of the thirteenth century, and has continued 
ever since to be so general a favorite with 
all classes of the faithful that to neglect it 
may be attributed, in most cases, to a lack of 
piety, whilst to despise it is the sure indi- 
cation of an uncatholic spirit. 

The Rosary, when practiced in the most perfect manner, 
consists of two distinct modes of prayer joined together in one 
exercise. It is a combination of mental prayer, or meditation, 
with vocal prayer. The meditation is made by the considera- 
tion of the most memorable and touching “mysteries” or 
events in the life, passion, and victory of Jesus Christ our 
Redeemer. The vocal prayer consists of the recitation, on the 
beads, of the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Gloria 
Patri, or Doxology. 

The Mysteries to be meditated are 15 in number, and 
divided into three parts, which are named the 5 joyful, the 5 



sorrowful, and the 5 glorious mysteries. The rosary-beads -on 
which the vocal prayers are recited are also divided, in a 
corresponding manner, into 3 parts, and each part into 5 
decades (or tens), each decade consisting of 1 bead for the 
Pater, and 10 for the Aves. The Gloria at the end of every 
decade is recited on the same bead as the Pater which begins 
the decade that follows. 

The Chaplet, or, as it is sometimes called, “ the Rosary 
of 5 decades,’’ constitutes only a third part of the full rosary, 
and is the common form in which the beads are made and 
used at the present day, it not being usual to recite more than 
one part at a time. 

Indulgences. 

The indulgences attached to the recitation of the Rosary 
are of two kinds, viz : the ordinary indulgences, and those 
(so-called) of St. Bridget. Among these indulgences, the 
principal are the following : 

1st. Those who are accustomed to recite weekly the 
Chaplet, or Rosary of 5 decades, blessed in the ordinary 
manner, gain an indulgence of 100 days each time. 

2d. If the Rosary has been blessed by a Priest authorized 
to give the Bridgetine indulgences, one gains, for every time 
he recites the 5 decades, an indulgence of 100 days for each 
bead. The Rosaries blessed during the mission receive these 
as well as the ordinary indulgences. 

N. B. — Those who are not capable of meditating the 
mysteries, may gain the above indulgences by simply saying 
their beads with piety. 





AVetlxxl of 'Saving tl)e Rosary 
vifl) ff)e Arteries. 


[IjY 3t. Alpbonstts Iytguori.] 


T AKING your beads in your right hand, by the medal 
or cross, bless yourself, and say, “In the name of 
the Father ,” etc. Then recite, by way of intro- 
duction, the Creed . , i Pater , 3 Aves, and 1 Gloria ; after 
which, you go on with the meditation of the mysteries, 
and the recitation of the decades, as follows : 











The Ae v ssa<je of the Angel. 


I N THIS mystery we contemplate how the blessed Virgin 
Mary received from the Archangel Gabriel the news 
that she should conceive and bring forth into the 
world our Lord Jesus Christ. O, the tender pity of our 
God, who might have saved us by sending an angel to 
redeem us, but chose rather to come himself, and to die for 
our Salvation! But, alas! where is the gratitude of men, 
where is that return of love we owe to a God so full of 
mercy? Holy Mother of God, so full always of love to Jesus 
Christ, who became thy Son that he might deliver us from 
hell, obtain for us the grace to love him also with all our 
heart. 

Then say on your beads, i Pater , io Aves , and i Gloria , in 
honor of the divine Mother, and to obtain this holy love of God. 








AAA: 


Tt>e Visitation 


I N THIS mystery we contemplate liow the blessed Virgin 
Mary, having learned that St. . Elizabeth, her cousin, 
was with child, set out immediately to visit her, and 
remained with her three months. The visit of Mary was 
the source of grace to this whole family. Happy, indeed, 
is every soul which Mary deigns to visit ! Let us pray, then, 
to our dear Lady, that she will be pleased to visit our souls, 
to sanctify and save them. 


Pray now to this intention, i Pater , io A ves, and i Gloria , on 
your beads. 













N THIS mystery 


we contemplate how the Virgin Mary 
brought forth onr Redeemer, at midnight, in the stable 
of Bethlehem, between two animals of the stall. When 
the time of her delivery arrived, Mary was in the city of 
Bethlehem, but being very poor, -was unable to procure any 
lodging, so that she was obliged to take shelter in a cave, 
-which was used as a stable for cattle, and there she gave 
birth to the Son of God, and laid him on a bed of straw in 
the manger. It pleased our Lord Jesus Christ to come into 
the world in the form of a babe, and in a manger, in order 
that sinners might have more confidence to approach him. 
Sinners then that we are, let us take courage, and beseech 
the blessed Virgin to obtain for us a true and unchanging 
confidence in the mercy of her Son, onr Redeemer. 


i Pater , io Aves, and i Gloria , on the beads. 











TI)e Presentation in tl)e Temple. 


N THIS mystery 


we contemplate how, forty days after 
the birth of our Lord, the blessed Virgin, that she 
might fulfil the precept of the purification, offered her 
divine Son in the temple, and placed him in the arms of 
the aged Simeon. Mary had no need to be purified, 
because she was always free from stain ; but in order to obey 
the law, and through humility, she went to be purified, and 
to appear sullied, like other women. Since, then, Mary, who 
was so pure, was not ashamed to appear as if she needed 
to be purified, how shall we ever be ashamed to confess 
our sins? Let us pray to the blessed Virgin while we 
recite this next decade, that she will help us always to 
overcome every repugnance to confess our sins. 




y/s'S/k 


i Pater , io Aves, and i Gloria , on the beads. 







Tl>e binding in fl>e Temple 


N THIS mystery 


we contemplate how Mary, having lost 
her Son, sought for him during three days, and found 
him again the third day, disputing in the midst of 
the doctors. The blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, having 
gone to Jerusalem to visit the temple, took with them the 
little child Jesus, then only twelve years old. On their 
return they lost him. For three days, then, they sought after 
him, with many sighs and tears, and found him at last in the 
temple. Mary never lost the grace of her Son, but only his 
p^sence, and nevertheless, she sought after him with tears. 
O, how much greater reason the sinner has to search for Jesus 
Christ, and that with many tears, when he has lost his grace ! 
Whoever seeks for him in this way, will find him surely. 
Let us pray, then, to the blessed Virgin for so many poor 
sinners who have lost Jesus Christ, that she may obtain for 
them a true sorrow for their sins. 


Recite i Pater , io Aves, and i Gloria, on tin 
conclude with the following prayer : 


Prefer. 


O GOD! whose only begotten Son, by his life, death, 
and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards 
of eternal life : grant, we beseech thee, that while 
we meditate upon these mysteries in the most holy Rosary 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they 
contain, and obtain what they promise : through the same 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



Lesson^ on ffe Virtues to 
be Derived from Medi- 
tating on tt>e Maste- 
ries of tf)e Rosary. 

First : Tfye Message of tf)e 
3 % Angel. 3 % 


HV N angel sent by God has brought the glad tid- 
■ ' higs. He has been conceived of the Holy 
‘ 'Mr " Ghost. He has chosen the most pure and 
' h°ly °f virgins to become incarnate in 

K % Y'. : her womb, and the body He has taken has 

~~ ; been united to the Divinity from the very 

first moment His conce ptio n - 

f£j The Son of God has taken upon Him- 

self our poverty and miseries, in order 
that we may participate in His riches. His sufferings and His 
death will make us immortal. Here is a wonder which in itself 
is out of the ordinary course of nature, of which experience has 



not taught us, a marvel which reason ignores, of which the human 


'M 


intellect cannot conceive, which astonishes heaven and e; 
which creates admiration even anioner the celestial c 


'/////- 


among the celestial choirs of 


angels, and this wonder, this mystery is that Gabriel announces to. 


Mary that “the Lord is with thee,” and then “The Word was made pP 


Flesh and dwelt among us. 

Points of Meditation. 


1. The most Holy Trinity consents to the Incarnation of Jesus 

Christ. 

2. Mary is chosen to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. 

3. The Angel Gabriel announces that happiness to Mary. 

4. The Angel salutes her, saying, “Hail, full of grace, the 

Lord is with thee.” 

5. Mary is troubled at the sight and speech of the Angel. 

6. She prays in her holy solitude. 

7. The Angel says, “Fear not, Mary, thou slialt conceive by 

the power of the Holy Ghost.” 

8. Mary answers, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it 

done unto me according to thy word.” 

9. The Holy Ghost overshadows her. 

10. And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us. 
VIRTUE-HUMILITY. 


JJie most precious pearl in the crown of the Blessed Vir 

virtue of humility, which she practiced from her 







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infancy. St. Bernard says that humility is the foundation and 
guardian of every virtue. And this is very true, because without 
humility no other virtue can strike root in the soul ; every virtue 
will certainly depart when humility leaves. Heavenly graces can 
only be received by an humble heart. Humility expels the devil 
and keeps within us the graces and gifts of the Holy Ghost. St. 
Augustine says, Christ does not command us to build up worlds, 
to work miracles — raise the dead to life, etc. — but to be humble 
of heart. 

If you, dear Christians, desire to erect the edifice of virtue, first 
lay the foundation of humility. And as you have made the firm 
resolution to follow the road taken by Mary and her beloved Son, 
who calls you, saying, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble 
of heart,” you must endeavor, then, to practice with all your 
strength this virtue of humility. Do not forget that this virtue 
is the foundation of a Christian life. Pride led you into sin; 
humility alone can raise you up or preserve you from falling again. 
St. Bridget was once permitted by God to behold in a vision two 
ladies. One of them seemed to be full of vanity and pomp. She 
is pride, said the Lord. But this one, whom you see with her 
eyes modestly cast down and ready to help every one, having God 
always in her heart, considering her own nothingness, is 
humility, and her name is Mary. Which of them will you follow? 


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Tl)e Second Joafal 


Clustery 


The Visitation, 


OON after Mary had conceived the Word, 
yr arising, she went with haste into the 
mountains of Judea, to visit her cousin 

>1 ' 

| V Elizabeth. Do we not see the cause of 

vk 

sw. this promptitude, and of the honor con- 
, ferred on Elizabeth by this visit of Mary ? 
"fa. When a soul is possessed of Jesus Christ, 
it is full of zeal, of holy desire, of sublime 
sentiments of piety, of an ardent desire of 
making God known and loved by all others. 

Mary, who carries in her bosom the grace of Jesus Christ, is 
incited by a divine instinct to go and to diffuse it among the 
household of Zacharias where the Baptist had been conceived. 

It is the part of superiors to condescend and to anticipate. 
Should not Mary, who saw herself anticipated by the Divine 
Word that came down to her womb, stoop and humble herself 
after His example? Jesus was outwardly preceded by St. John: 





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blit, inwardly, it was Jesus who was to anticipate him, who was 
to sanctify him. It was then, of necessity, that John should 
receive from Jesus the first touch of divine grace. 

How wonderful this visitation ! Jesus Christ is hidden in the 
breast of His mother, yet it is He who acts in all. He alone 
remains unmoved, yet all are moved by His influence. 

“The earth is moved at the face of the Lord, at the face of the 
God of Jacob.” 

We behold in these three illustrious personages in whom our 
Lord acts, three different dispositions of souls which He ap- 
proaches. “Whence comes it?” says Elizabeth. ( Luke i, 43.) 
She is astonished at the near approach of her God ; and not being 
able to discover in herself any merit on her part, she marvels at 
His infinite goodness. In other souls, God makes use of a holy 
violence in order to draw them to Himself: this is what appears 
in the joy of St. John the Baptist. 

The last operation of His grace is that profound peace of soul 
which we behold in the holy Virgin. Here are to be seen in 
these three persons, so differently moved, the three divine opera- 
tions of Jesus Christ in souls : in Elizabeth, the humble astonish- 
ment of the soul He approaches ; in John the Baptist, the holy 
transports of a soul He attracts : and in Mary, the ineffable peace 
of a soul that possesses Him. 

Points of Meditation. 

1. Mary, with great humility and charity, goes to visit her 

cousin, St. Elizabeth. 

2. Mary, guided by the Holy Ghost, and accompanied by the 

holy angels. 

3. Mary crosses the mountains in haste. 







Mary is received with great Joy/ by her cousin^ St. Eliza- 


St. John is sanctifieoKjtphis mother’s womb. 

St. Elizabeth says, “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb.” 

Mary replies, "My soul doth magnify the Lord.” 
Elizabeth exclaims, “Whence is this to me, that the mother 
of my Lord should come to visit me.” 

The house of Zacharias supremely blessed by the visits of 
Jesus and Mary. 

Mary serves her cousin in all humble offices for the space of 
three months. 


VIRTUE— CHARITY. 


St. Chrysostom says that when the Son of God gave us the best 
of prayers, He did not intend us to say “My Father,” but “Our 
Father;” inasmuch as we have a common Father in Heaven we 
should consider all men as our brethren, and that in this way we 
should love each other with a mutual love, with a love stronger 
in grace than in nature, as we all have the equal right to hope for 
eternal life as our reward. Is it not reasonable that men who are 
endowed with one and the same nature, who have the same Father 
in Heaven, who are obliged to live in each other’s society, who 
are all fellow-travelers and who ought to meet again in Heaven, is 
it not reasonable that we should love one another here and help 
one another in the same degree, as we would wish to he helped 

f / 

ourselves? A $( , 







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Tf)e Tf)ird Joyful A^ster^. 

The Birth of Jesus Christ. 

prepared for the world a grand and new 
spectacle when He caused its King to be 
born in poverty, and prepared a palace and 
a crib to suit His lowliness. He came to 
His own and His own received Him not: 
“There was no place found to receive 
Him.” ( Luke ii, 2.) Crowds of the great 
ones of the earth have filled the inns ; there 
is for Jesus but an abandoned and deserted 
manger to lay Him in. Worthy retreat for Him who was in after 
years to say : “The foxes have their holes and the birds of the air 
have their nests, but the Son of Man hath not whereon to lay His 
head.” ( Luke ii, 38.) He did not say this in complaint : He was 
accustomed to abandonment from His birth ; He had not whereon 
to lay His head. He wished it so. 

Let us leave places inhabited by men ; let us leave the inns where 

tumult and interest reign. Let us seek among animals a retreat 

more simple and innocent. We have at last found a place worthy 

the “deserted come forth, Divine Infant, all is at least ready to 

signalize your poverty. He comes as a dart of light, as a ray 

of the sun ; His mother is all astonishment at His appearance ; 

that birth, this childbirth, is without travail. Miraculously con- 

87 




ceived, His birth is still more miraculous ; and the saints have 
considered it far more astonishing to be born, than to be con- 
ceived, of a virgin ! 

Enter now into the possession of the throne of your poverty. 
The angels adore you. When God introduced you into this 
world, this command was issued from the high throne of His 
Eternal Majesty: “Let all the angels of God adore Him.” 
( Heb . i, 6.) His mother and St. Joseph prostrated themselves, 
and adored Him at the same time ! It was as a figure of Jesus 
that the Joseph of old was adored by his father and mother. 
( Genesis xxx, 9.) But the adoration which Jesus receives is of a 
different nature, since He is honored and adored as God above 
all, “forever and ever.” ( Romans ix, 5.) 

Do not think of approaching this throne of poverty, filled with 
the love of riches and worldly grandeur. You who approach the 
crib of your Saviour, should debase yourselves. Why have we 
not more courage to follow in poverty the King of the poor ! Let 
us in spirit, at least, leave all things and instead of taking pride in 
our wealth, let us blush at our costly apparel, while Jesus Christ 
is naked and abandoned. 

Points of Meditation. 

1. Mary gives birth to a child and remains a virgin. 

2. Mary gives birth to Jesus, and wraps Him in swaddling- 

clothes. 

3. Mary contemplates Jesus with love and astonishment. 

4. Mary embraces Jesus and presses Him to her heart. 

5. Marv feeds Jesus with her Virginal Milk. 

6. Mary lays Jesus in a manger that Joseph had prepared. 

7. Jesus lies in a manger before an ox and an ass. 


88 



8. The angels sing, “Glorv to God in the highest, on earth 

peace to men of good-will.” 

9. The shepherds come to visit the Child Jesus. 

10. The Magi come to adore the Holy Child, and offer Him 
presents. 


VIRTUE— POVERTY. 


Poverty in itself is not a virtue, but the love of poverty for 
Jesus Christ *is so. He has said : “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” 
not “Blessed are they who have nothing.” St. Hilary explains 
this by saying that it is not a sin to own property but it is a sin 
if it is not used rightly. Thus when the Gospel condemns the 
rich and closes the gates of Heaven upon them, it does not curse 
those who possess riches, but those who are so eager to become 
rich that they fall into the snares of the devil. 

A Christian should die poor, either in reality or in spirit, because 
poverty only can enter into Heaven, and if the rich enter there, 
it must be through the gate of poverty. Thus the greatest mis- 
fortune is to die rich, that is to say with a great love and attach- 
ment for riches. Money or property should only be valued because 
it enables its possessor to do good. 









Tl)e Foci rtf) Joyful Altera. 

The Presentation in the Temple. 

r HE law of Moses ordained that parents 
should take their new-born infants and 
consecrate them to the Lord. 

We know that the first act of Jesus was 
to offer Himself a willing victim, taking 
the place of all other victims of what 
kind soever, in order to accomplish, in all 
things, the will of God. What He did in 
the bosom of His mother He does again 
But why is this first-born redeemed? Was it necessary to re- 
deem a Redeemer? The Redeemer bore in Himself the likeness 
of a slave and a sinner ; His holy mother could not keep Him in 
her possession if He were not redeemed. He was submissive to 
her, He obeyed her, He served her for the space of thirty years. 
Redeem Him, pious mother! but you will not detain Him long; 
you will see Him sold for thirty pieces of silver, and given over 
to the torments of the Cross. Divine first-born, whether redeemed 
or sold, in order to be more wholly mine at the end of your life, 
I wish to be redeemed for you alone, and to spend my life in the 
performance of charity ! 

It is said in the Law : “There shall be offered a lamb of a year 
old as a holocaust for a son or a daughter, and a young pigeon 
or turtle dove for sin : or if they have not wherewith to provide 
a lamb, they shall offer a pair of turtle doves or young pigeons, 
one for a holocaust, and another for sin.” (Lev. xii, 6, 8.) God 

tempers His law according to our means; His rigor, although 

9 r 




II' WlPj 





regular, is accommodating, and He permits the poor to offer 
birds instead of a lamb. Turtles and pigeons were the offerings 
of the poor. In the oblation of the Saviour, the Gospel excludes 
the lamb and marks only the alternative, namely, pigeons or 
doves, as being the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which was certainly 
that of the poor. He thus exercises poverty, it pleases Him, He 
loves lowliness, and He continually bears about Him the marks of 
it. Let us keep before us this great mystery in memory of Him 
“who being rich became poor for our sake, that through His pov- 
erty we so might become rich.” (Cor. xi, 8, 9.) Let us love this 
pearl of poverty. Origen says : I esteem these turtles and pigeons 
happy in being offered for our Saviour, since He saves both men 
and beasts: “Men and beasts thou wilt preserve, O Lord.” 




Go, little innocent victims, go and die for Jesus ! It is we who 
should die because of our sins: let us then save Jesus from death, 
by dying to sin which was the cause of His death. The dove, the 
emblem of purity, is the sacrifice of the old law. Sacrificed to 
purify souls. Jesus Christ, purity personified, is sacrificed in the 
new law that souls may be saved. Think of that, O sinner ! Thy 
soul is of so much value that the Son of God died to save it from 
destruction. 


Points of Meditation, 


Mary goes to the Temple to offer her Holy Child. 

Jesus and Mary submit to the law. 

The way from Nazareth to Jerusalem is long and difficult. 
Mary carries the Child Jesus in her arms. 

Mary continues her journey, pondering all these things in 
her heart. 


6. Mary offers Jesus in the Temple. 

7. Mary redeems Jesus at the ransom appointed for the poor. 

8. Anna rejoices to see her prophecy fulfilled. 

9. The holy old man, Simeon, embraces Jesus with joy. 

10. Simeon says, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in 
peace.” 

VIRTUE— OBEDIENCE. 

“And He became obedient unto death, even to the death of the 
Cross.” 

\ oluntary obedience, or obeying of our own free will where 
we are not obliged to do so, is a very meritorious act, if we do it 
for the love of God. The proper duty of obeying our superiors 
civil, ecclesiastical or domestic, is one from which no man can 
exempt himself. In civil matters, the laws and those who enforce 
them ; in matters of religion, the Pope, the bishop and the clergy ; 
in domestic matters, the father and the mother. You must of 
necessity obey your superiors in these various departments in 
which God has placed them, for all power is from God, but in 
matters where you are not compelled in conscience to obey, to do 
so meekly without reply, readily without delay, cheerfully with- 
out repining, and above all, lovingly for the sake of Him, the 
model of obedience, this will be perfect obedience, and the more 
troublesome and disagreeable, such obedience is, the more accept- 
able it is to God. 

93 






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5 > {( < 2 * 


Tf)e Piftl) JoQfal Altera. 


The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. 



HE 


absence of the Child Jesus from Mary 
and Joseph was not a punishment but a 
trial. Holy Writ does not accuse them 
of negligence in losing Him in the 
crowd : it must have been a deep humilia- 
tion and a trial. 


Jesus escapes when it pleases Him : 
His spirit goes and comes at will. “But 
thou knowest not whence He cometh and 


whither He goetb. ( John iii, 8.) He passes: “But He passing 
through the midst of them w T ent His way.” ( Luke iv, 30.) And 
they perceive Him not. Apparently He had no need of this strategy 
to escape from Mary and Joseph. Be it as it may, the holy Child 
disappeared, and His parents, being anxious and filled with sor- 
row, “sought Him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance.” 
( Luke ii, 44.) How many times did not the holy man St. Joseph 
reproach himself with the little care he had taken of their celestial 
charge? Who would not grieve with him, and with his spouse, 
now the most sorrowful of mothers? 

The charms of the holy Child were marvellous. Thus it is easy 
to conceive how delighted the companions of their journey were 
to have His society: and Mary and Joseph believed their precious 
charge was with one or other of the different groups returning 
from Jerusalem, whither they had been to celebrate the Pasch. 
This accounts for the easy escape of the Divine Child from His 
parents. What words can express their sorrow when they realized 


94 


their loss? They go a day’s journey from Jerusalem, hoping to 
find the object of their love among their acquaintances. 

Return, afflicted parents, to Jerusalem! it is not among friends 
and relatives nor among men that Jesus is found ; it is in the holy 
city, it is in the temple He is found, occupied with the affairs of 
His Father. In effect, “after three days of earnest seeking, when 
they had wept and sought Him sorrowing,” the holy Child al- 
lowed Himself to be “found in the temple.” ( Luke ii, 44-46.) 

He was sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and 
asking them questions, and all who heard Him were astonished at 
His wisdom and at His answers. Behold Him seated with the doc- 
tors as if He Himself was born a doctor to teach them : admire the 
wise economy by which Jesus disposes all things by permitting 
only a ray of His greatness to appear, not wishing to lose the char- 
acter of childhood. 

Go to the Temple, Christian ! go, consult the doctors, interro- 
gate them, answer their questions ; recognize in this mystery the 
beginning of Catechism and Christian teaching. 

Points of Meditation. 

1. Mary has lost her Beloved Child. 

2. Mary is deprived of her only Treasure. 

3. Mary seeks Him with anxiety. 

4. Mary seeks Jesus in the streets and roads. 

5. Mary finds Jesus again after three days. 

6. Mary finds Jesus in the Temple. 

7. Jesus, twelve years old, teaches the doctors. 

8. Mary says, “Son, why hast thou made 11s sorrowful?” 

9. Jesus returns with Mary and Joseph, and is obedient unto 

them. 

10. Mary preserves in her heart the sayings of Jesus. 


95 


VIRTUE— SPIRIT OF PIETY. 


To judge by their exterior, there are many people who seem 
to think that piety and cheerfulness are opposed to each other. 
Do they find anything in the Gospel to justify them in this? Far 
from it. True piety and devotion consist simply in fulfilling all 
the duties of that state of life in which God has placed us. There 
is nothing more truly satisfying than to feel that we have dis- 
charged all our obligations to our brother man in a satisfactory 
manner. To do this we must strictly observe God’s command- 
ments. The observance of God’s commandments will add stability 
to friendship, give us good faith in our business transactions and 
add candor to our courtesies. 

Far from making people disagreeable or morose nothing is so 
apt to civilize and polish them as true piety. For instance, if a 
man is debauched or sensual, he is irritable, rough, passionate and 
vindictive. If a woman is without piety she is vain, capricious 
and cruel — a cross to her children and her husband. But when 
men and women are truly pious and devoted they are reasonable 
and courteous and worthy of every one’s respect. 

Neither God nor the Gospel disapproves of the duties of polite- 
ness nor the amenities of life. God does not wish us to live in a 
desert, solitary and alone. He wishes us to act as good Christians 
and to do this we must be mild, tractable, humble, upright, oblig- 
ing and try to fulfill the duty of acting towards others as we wish 
them to act to us, and this includes the little courtesies of life as 
well as the most serious obligations, hence it is that cheerfulness, 
the capacity of entering heartily into innocent amusements, dili- 
gence in work and always preserving a gracious, courteous de- 
meanor are unfailing indications that you have on the brightly 

polished armor of true piety. 

96 



p int 





Tf)e Agon^ in fl)e Garden 


I N THE first sorrowful mystery, we contemplate how 
Jesus Christ sweat drops of blood, when praying in 
the Garden of Olives. 

Our Lord was seized with such great sadness in the 
Garden of Olives that, as he said it was enough to take 
away his life. “ My soul is sorrowful even unto death." 
What was it, then, afflicted Jesus Christ so much in the 
garden? What was it made him sw r eat those drops of 
blood? It was the sight of our sins that caused him this 
cruel agony. L,et us unite our sorrow with that of Jesus 
Christ. Let us beseech the Blessed Virgin to obtain for us 
such a true and lasting sorrow for our sins, that we may 
never more give our Saviour any cause to w T eep for us. 


Then say on you r beads i Pater , io Aves, and i Gloria 








IT. 


The ^coorging at tl>e Pillar. 




I N THE second sorrowful mystery, we contemplate liow 
Jesus was cruelly scourged in the house of Pilate, where, 
according to the revelation made to St. Bridget, he 
received more than 6,000 blows. This scourging was so 
cruel, that his sacred Body became like a leper’s; that is to 
say, one continual wound from head to foot, according to 
the prophecy of Isaias, “ And we have thought him as it 
were a leper." The doctors assure us that Jesus Christ was 
pleased to suffer this great punishment, especially to satisfy 
for the sins of men against chastity. Alas ! alas ! the im- 
purities of sinners are the scourges which made our Saviour 
suffer. O ! let us pray to the Blessed Virgin to deliver us 
from this vice which makes hell so full, and to aid us in the 
time of temptation. 

Recite 1 Pater , 10 Aves, and 1 Gloria , on the beads. 
















Tt)e Crowning witl) Tborns 


I N THE third sorrowful mystery, we contemplate how 
Jesus Christ was crowned with thorns, and treated like 
a mock king. After having been scourged, he was 
made to sit upon a stone step; they put a reed in his hand 
to represent a sceptre, a rag upon his shoulders for a royal 
mantle, and on his head, in place of a crown, a wreath of 
thorns, which they struck with canes to make them penetrate. 
The soldiers then insulted him, saying, “Hail! King of the 
jews," and buffeted him. Sinners do the same; for they 
confess, but scarcely risen from the feet of their confessor, 
they go home from the church to give Jesus Christ new 
blows on the face. Let us beseech the Blessed Virgin to 
obtain for us that we may die sooner than ever offend our 


more. 


i Pater, 10 Aves, and i Gloria , on the beads, 





/iv 







I N THE fourth sorrowful mystery we contemplate how 
Jesus Christ, having been condemned to death by 
Pilate, was made to bear the cross upon his shoulders. 
With great affection Jesus embraced his cross, to satisfy for 
our sins. It is therefore just that we, in our turn, to satisfy 
for the offences which we have given him, should embrace 
the crosses which God sends us. Let us pray Mary to 
obtain for us a holy spirit of resignation, and patience under 
every trial. 


i Pater , xo Aves, and x Glotia, on the beads. 




The Crucifixion of Our Lord 




I N THE fifth sorrowful mystery, we contemplate how 
Jesus Christ, having come to the hill of Calvary, was 
stripped, and nailed to the cross, where he died for 
love of us, in the presence of Mary, his afflicted Mother. 
Consider what a bitter death our Saviour suffered to purchase 
our love. Let us keep by us always some beautiful image 
of Jesus crucified, and, often looking at it, let ns say to 
him : I love thee, my Jesus, because thou hast died for me. 
Now, let us pray that afflicted Mother Mary to obtain for us 
the grace to think often of the dying love of Jesus Christ 
for us. 


I Pater , io Aves, and i Gloria , on the beads. 






1 1 / 

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Prayer. 


O GOD ! whose only begotten Son, by his life, death, 
and resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards 
of eternal life : grant, we beseech thee, that while 
we meditate upon these mysteries in the most holy Rosary 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they 
contain, and obtain what they promise : through the same 
Christ our Lord. Amen . 




Tl)e First Sorrowful 
Clustery. 

The Agony in the Garden. 


IGURE to yourself your divine Saviour on 
w ^ om rest iniquities of the whole 
HI' world. We behold in the world treason, 

impurity, adultery, impiety, sac- 
^ rilege, imprecation, and blasphemy ; in a 
word, all the corruption that is to be 
found in depraved humanity. 

What an oppressive weight bore down 
upon our Lord! On whatever side He 
turns His sacred eyes He beholds mountains of sin, the sight of 
which overwhelms Him with sorrow. These all press Him to the 
earth. He is prostrate, groaning under the weight of our crimes, 
which He takes upon Himself as His own. 

Proud and rebellious sinner, behold Jesus Christ in this sorrow- 
ful posture! Whilst thou walkest with uplifted head, Jesus bends 
His face to the earth ; thou dost cast aside the yoke of discipline, 
and dost find pleasure in sin, and Jesus is overwhelmed with its 
weight; thou rejoicest in sin, and Jesus is in agony. 



V. 







w 

We ought to consider what His agony is, and, to 
fully, we should dwell upon two points, namely; that Sin briif^ 
shame a^d sorrow which are its natural results. Shame is its due, 
because it unreasonably exalts itself; sorrow is also its due, since '////// 
it is the price of sin. Our innocent Jesus, in taking upon Himself 
our sins, has also accepted these feelings of shame and sorrow 
in all their vehemence ; and this is one great cause of His intense 
agony. 

He prays, and prays tremblingly; He prays and praying for a 
long time He alone drinks to the dregs this cup of shame. 

Points of Meditation. 




wm 




& 




W/A 








1. Jesus goes into the Garden of Olives. 

2. Jesus prays, lying prostrate on the ground. 

3. Jesus perseveres in His prayer. 

4. Jesus is sorrowful, even unto death. 

5. Jesus is bathed in a sweat of blood. 

6. Jesus submits His will to His Heavenly Father. 

7. Jesus warns His disciples to watch and pray. 

8. Jesus betrayed by Judas. 

9. Jesus is seized by His own creatures, 
o. Jesus cruelly bound, and dragged from one judge to 





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VIRTUE-PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER. 

“Ask and it shall be given unto you.” {Matt, vii, 7.) 

“The Lord,” says St. Augustine, “wishes to pour His graces 
upon us, but not unless we pray.” God wishes to give but only to 
those who ask. “Prayer is necessary,” says St. Thomas, “not to 
make our wants known to Almighty God, but to convince us of 
our obligation to recur to Him, and thus make us acknowledge 
Him to be the author of all our works.” The body cannot be 
supported without food, neither can the soul be preserved without 
prayer. But when you pray, my dear Catholic, pray attentively. 
“The Lord listens to the voice of the heart in preference to that 
of the mouth,” says St. Cyprian. When we pray we should 
watch our minds, oh how closely ! that worldly and profane 
thoughts may not enter, and engross our attention. To whom 
should we speak attentively if not to God? Has He not the 
right to demand that you should think of what you are doing? 
You imagine God will hear and grant your prayers, when 
you are so distracted that you offend the Almighty by your negli- 
gence — Pray, then, attentively and my Christian friend when you 
ask God for temporal favors, pray that He may grant or reject 
them as He sees fit. The doctor and not the patient knows what 
is best, for if you place your heart too deeply on things of this 
world, in His anger He may give you what you desire and which 
would be very dangerous for you to have. 

“To pray well,” says St. Augustine, “you must seek God alone.” 

hi 





Ti)e Second C3orrovfal 

The Scourging of Jesus Christ. 




Him laden with your sins and mine. If Jesus Christ, innocence 
personified, was not spared these torments because He assumed 
our sins, how will the impenitent sinner stand before the Living 
God on the day of judgment? 

One sin of disobedience caused Adam and Eve to be banished 
from the Garden of Eden to live and die in misery ; for this one 
sin their descendants meet every day with thousands of troubles : 
labor and fatigue, sickness and death, pestilence and cholera. 
Think then of the punishment due for the mountains of sin com- 
mitted in the thousands of years since the creation of the world. 
Think of Jesus Christ assuming this responsibility and suffering 
the punishment due for them. Gaze long and earnestly at this 
picture of Christ at the pillar, and when you are tempted to sin 
remember that every sin adds another stroke to that tortured body. 


Points of Meditation. 

1. Jesus is delivered to be scourged. 

2. Jesus is falsely accused. 

3. Jesus is stripped of His clothes. 

4. Jesus is naked in the hands of His executioners. 

5. Jesus is fastened to a pillar. 

6. Jesus is lashed with scourges. 

7. Jesus is bruised with clubs. 

8. The Flesh of Jesus is torn with points of lead. 

9. The Blood of Jesus flows down to the ground. 

10. They unfasten Jesus ; He clothes Himself again. 

113 




[T OF PENANCE. 


VIRTUE 


Sin must be punished, either in the present world or in the world 
to come, either by the justice of God or by the penitence of man ; 
let us not therefore wait till God Himself shall inflict due punish- 
ment, let us take care to prevent the rigor of His justice by the 
rigor of our penance. Inflamed with zeal let us side with the Al- 
mighty against ourselves and avenge His cause at our own 
expense. 

It is our own criminal weakness and sensuality that separate us 
from our Father. To make friends with Him again, these failings 
must be counteracted by severe penance. Not only severe, but 
persevering. Why? Because God leaves it to yourselves. With 
penance you must destroy self-love, and that can only be done 
by the zeal of holy, unceasing and rigorous self-punishment. If 
it were a question of judging the sins of others, you would not 
hesitate to inflict penance, though nought but delicate tenderness 
can be considered when it applies to your own body. St. Paul 
chastised his body and brought it under subjection that he might 
be an example. 

“But I chastise my body and bring it under subjection: lest 
perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a 
castaway.” (I Corinthians ix, 27.) 









® Tbe Tfyird ^orrovfal 
AUisterq. 

The Crowning with Thorns. 

ONTEMPLATE the face of this man, which 
heretofore was the delight of all who be- 
held it; now, see it, an object of horror. 
Behold the man whom Pilate presents to 
you from the praetorium, behold Him, that 
man of sorrow: Ecce homo! ( John xix, 
5.) “Behold the man.’’ And who is it 
we behold? is it a man or a worm of the 
earth ? is He a living man or a victim 
for slaughter? They proclaim Him to be a man: Ecce homo: 
“Behold the man !” Yes, Christian Soul, behold in Him a man of 
sorrow : see the deplorable condition to which the members of the 
synagogue have reduced Him ; or rather see Him in this sad state 
where our sins have placed Him : our own sins have brought upon 
this innocent victim all this deluge of evil. O Jesus ! who can rec- 
ognize you in this deplorable condition? “We have seen Him,” 
says the prophet, “and there was no sightliness in Him that we 
should be desirous of Him.” Far from appearing like God, He 






even lost the appearance of man, and His look was as it were hid- 
den and despised, whereupon we esteemed Him not. Is it He? 
is He that man promised us, that man from the right hand of God ? 
is He that Son of Man in whom God was well pleased? Doubt 
not this is He ; behold the man who was necessary to expiate our 
iniquities ; we required a victim to model in us the image of God 
which our crimes had defaced ; we needed a Man-God to heal our 
wounded souls. He was wounded for our iniquities. He was 
bruised for our sins, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, 
and by His bruises we are healed. 

O wounds, I adore you ! Sacred stigmata, I embrace you ! O 
blood which flows, be it from Thy pierced and divine head, from 
Thy bruised and swollen eyes, or be it from Thy sacred and lacer- 
ated body ! O precious blood ! I gather thee lest the thirsty 
earth should imbibe thee : “O earth, cover not thou my blood.” 
(Job xvi, 19.) But of what import is the blood of Job? Thou, O 
earth! drink not the blood of Jesus; this blood is ours and upon 
our souls it should fall. The Jews cry out : “His blood be upon us 
and upon our children!” (Matt, xxvii, 25.) It will be upon thee, 

thou accursed race ! Thou art but too well heard : this blood will 
116 



be upon thee even to the last remaining vestige of thy offspring ; 
until the Lord wearies of revenge, He will remember thee, thou 
unfortunate race, to the end of time. May the blood of Jesus be 
not upon us, as it was upon the Jews, may it not wreak vengeance 
upon our long obduracy ; but rather let it be upon us for our 
salvation, that we may be washed from the multitude of our sins, 
that we may be wholly saturated by this blood ; and may its 
beautiful hue of vermilion surround us as a halo, when appear- 
ing before the dread bar of Divine Justice. 


Points of Meditation. 


Jesus brought forth to be crowned with thorns. 

They prepare a crown of thorns for Jesus. 

They force the crown of thorns upon the Head of Jesus. 
The Head of Jesus is pierced on every side. 

The Blood flows from the Head of Jesus. 

The Forehead of Jesus is covered with Blood. 

The Eyes of Jesus are bathed in Tears. 

The Lips of Jesus are pale as death. 

Jesus is clothed in a purple garment through derision. 
Jesus is cruelly mocked and derided : “Behold the Man !’ : 


VIRTUE-MORAL COURAGE. 


How many times has the fear of “What will people say?” in- 
fluenced you when you were inclined to do some act of penance, 




humiliation or other pious work? You have wished to give up 
something for God and yet the fear of man’s ridicule or un- 
favorable criticism has prevented your doing it. You would like 
to devote more time to God if you could do so, without people 
noticing it. Oh mankind ! how you should blush for being so 
ungrateful to your Father as to be ashamed of being seen doing 
His work. Many will say that it is sufficient to serve Almighty 
God in secret, to give Him our hearts without making any outward 
show of our devotion. This is true so far as it goes, but the man, 
however pious inwardly, who stops at that and will not when 
occasion requires, show that his heart belongs to God, and brave 
ridicule by acknowledging his faith in Jesus Christ and His 
Blessed Mother, is only half a Christian. 

How can this moral courage be shown ? By not countenancing 
impure or uncharitable conversation. If you have given up curs- 
ing, drinking or debauchery of any kind, when your comrades 
at work or a place of recreation tempt you to fall be brave, show 





/ 




TI)e Poartf) NSorrovfal 

.AYQSterQ. 

Jesus Carrying the Cross. 

ET us approach the cross ! At the foot of it we 
can plunge our souls into the deluge of the 
blood of Jesus ; from it flow all those riv- 
ulets, that rush with such rapidity that they 
leave the source itself dry and exhausted. 
i/ ' Let us in haste approach, for Jesus will soon 
be attached to the cross: they have already 
laid it upon His shoulders. Here one can 
no longer restrain His grief ; the soul must 
be hard indeed that is not deeply moved with pity and tenderness 
on beholding the adorable Saviour bearing the infamous instru- 
ment of His own torments. What is still more touching among 
all the circumstances of His passion is, that there is nothing in 
which He appears as a sinner more than in the carriage of the 
cross. To be fastened to a cross was the punishment of malefac- 
tors, but to carry one’s own cross is a public confession of his 
guilt. He indeed must well deserve death when He is constrained 
to carry to the gibbet the instrument of His own punishment ; inso- 
much as that this infamy was added to the punishment of crimi- 
nals, was a species of apology and as a public avowal of crime. 

O Jesus, innocent Jesus ! must you thus confess that you have 

merited this last punishment? It is necessary, it is required. 

Men charge Him with crimes of which He is innocent, but God has 

placed upon Him our iniquities ; and it is decreed that He should 

bear them before the face of Heaven and earth. As soon as Jesus 

119 





beheld the cross to which He was to be fastened, He exclaimed : 
“O my Father ! this cross is my due, not on account of the crimes 
with which the Jews accuse me, but because of those with which 
you charge me.” Come then, O Cross ! come that I may embrace 
thee: it is just that I should bear thee since I so well merit thee! 
In such sentiments, this innocent victim carries it to Calvary ; in 
taking it upon His shoulders, He charges Himself anew with the 
crimes of the entire world, to expiate them on this tree of infamy. 

Is there any other crime which is not charged to Him? Let it 
be brought and placed upon Jesus ; whilst He is on His way to the 
place of expiation, no sin must escape punishment. Let us ap- 
proach now ; and while our continued disobediences, our crimes, 
and our ingratitude, spur Him on to the place of execution, now 
that they are heaped upon His sacred shoulders, each of us should 
well examine and find out what share of the burden he has placed 
upon the meek and innocent Jesus. Alas ! we ourselves, wretches 
that we are, have increased this terrible weight ! Ah, how many 
crimes of ingratitude has each of us heaped upon Him ! W eep ! 
weep on beholding this infamous weight which overwhelms our 
loving Saviour! All our sins are upon Him, they press Him to 
the earth ; but those which are to Him the most insupportable are 
those sins of which we sinners do not repent. 


(JOm /r'M'nv 


Points of Meditation, 


1. Jesus condemned to be crucified. 

2. Jesus lovingly embraces His cross. 

3. Jesus carries His cross on His torn and wounded shoulders. 

4. Jesus falls under the weight of His cross for our sins. 

5. Jesus, again loaded with His cross, meets His sorrowful 

Mother. 



6 . Jesus leaves the impression of His Sacred Countenance on 

the veil of St. Veronica. 

7. Jesus says, “If these things are done in the green wood, 

what shall be done in the dry?” 

8. None can be found willing to carry the cross for Jesus. 

9. Jesus, loaded with His cross, falls at the foot of Calvary. 
'10. Jesus, again loaded with His cross, ascends the hill of Cal- 
vary. 

VIRTUE— PATIENCE. 

In patience you shall possess your souls. ( Luke xxi, 19.) 

Patience is to us, sojourning in this valley of tears, an abso- 
lutely necessary virtue. We have a divine model of patience in 
Jesus Christ. He delivered Himself to His enemies that they 
might do with Him as they wished. He uncomplainingly bore 
everything that fiendish ingenuity could invent, or malicious 
cruelty contrive. Can any one with feeling in his heart consider 
without tears the frightful torments to which He calmly and 
patiently yielded? See Him mocked and derided as a fool See 
His majestic countenance, the face of Jesus Christ, spit upon by the 
vile rabble. See Him quivering under the strokes of the scourge, 
falling under the weight of the cross, see the sacred head stream- 
ing with blood from the crown of thorns, beaten down with clubs 
until the sharp thorny points are blunted. Yet with this model 
of divine patience before us, this tortured Lamb of God dying be- 
fore us and not murmuring, we complain and fret at the most 
trifling annoyances, we get angry and take God’s name in vain at 
the slightest disappointments. Let us gaze on Christ carrying His 
cross and learn from Him to practice patience in all our trials and 
troubles, and to suppress in the very beginning every emotion of 
impatience, irritation or anger. 








Tf)e Piftf) 3orrovfa( 
I\%$ ter^. 


The Crucifixion. 


necessary that the whole sacrifice should be 
divine. A satisfaction worthy a God was 
required, and it was requisite that a God 
should be the victim. The divine victim sub- 
mitted to be attached to an infamous tree ; to 
have His hands and feet pierced through with 
gross nails ; to be sustained only by these 
wounded members ; and to have the weight of 
His depressed and mangled body supported 
alone by His torn hands ; to have all His members bruised and 
dislocated by this violent suspension ! Notwithstanding that ex- 
cessive pain of thirst caused by loss of blood, and the excruciat- 
ing agony of body and mind. He receives, for the quenching of 
that dreadful thirst, but gall and vinegar ; and, among these inex- 
plicable sorrows, He sees far and near around Him an innumer- 
able concourse who mock and deride Him in His extremity of 
suffering; He has a thief on either side, one of whom despairing 
dies, uttering imprecations the most blasphemous, — could our 
feeble imagination ever paint the horrors of the spectacle of our 
Jesus crucified? It is impossible, the representation is so fright- 
ful. This accumulation of evils causes horror to the beholders ; 
but the anguish and torments which we have considered are but 
dreams and pictures in comparison with the reality of the sorrows, 
the oppressions, the pangs, which rent the soul of our dear Jesus 
under the hand of God. 


122 


Points of Meditation. 


1. Jesus is cruelly stretched upon the cross. 

2. His sacred Hands and Feet are pierced with nails. 

3. Jesus is raised upon the cross, and His Blood flows in 

streams from all His Wounds. 

4. Jesus prays for His enemies. 

5. Jesus promises paradise to the penitent thief. 

6. Jesus recommends St. John to His Holy Mother. 

7. Jesus in His thirst is offered vinegar and gall. 

8. Jesus cries out, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” 

9. Jesus says, “It is finished !” 

10. Jesus gives up His Spirit into the hands of God His Father. 

VIRTUE— PARDONING OF SINS. 

Jesus Christ desired to establish charity among men, and as a 
means of doing this He is willing to obtain for us the greatest 
favor man can receive, the remission of our sins, only providing we 
confer on our neighbors the greatest favor we have it in our power 
to bestow, namely, the forgiveness of their offences against us. 
To obtain the forgiveness of our sins and the consequent peace 
with God, let us imitate Joseph, who repaid with presents the out- 
rages inflicted on him by his brothers ; Moses, who prayed for the 
rebellious people who were continually making war on him, or 
St. Stephen, who, when he was being stoned to death, implored 
pardon from God for his executioners. If the remembrance of 
some injury stirs up our mind to anger, call to mind what the Son 
of God has suffered for us and how few have been our sufferings 

in comparison : call to mind what He saw in the midst of His 

123 






agonies. “Father, forgive them, they know not 

Look at the picture of Jesus Christ on the cross and remember that 

you have no claim on Him if you do not regard your fellowman 

with charity and love. When you say in the Our Father, “Forgive 

us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” you 

are calling down on yourself eternal damnation if you have not 

forgiven those who have injured you. 

124 




)> 

















Tl)e Resurrection of Oar Lord 


I N THE first glorious mystery, we contemplate how, the 
third day after his death, Jesus rose again triumphant 
and glorious to die no more. Consider the glory of 
our Redeemer when he arose from the sepulchre, after having 
vanquished Satan, and delivered the human race, which that 
tyrant held in bondage. O ! how great is the folly of the 
sinner, who having been delivered once from the power of 
the devil, is willing to become his slave again for some 
wretched gain, or for the passing pleasures of this world. 
Let us pray the Virgin Mary to unite us so closely by love 
to Jesus Christ, that we may never again by mortal sin 
become the slave of Lucifer. 


Say on your beads for this intention, : Pater , io A ves, and x 


Gloria 



1 




Tl>e Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven 


I N THE second glorious mystery we contemplate how 
Jesus Christ, forty clays after his resurrection, ascended 
into heaven in triumph, in the sight of his Mother and 
of his disciples. Before Jesus Christ died for us Paradise 
was closed against us: but by his death, Jesus has opened 
it for all those who love him. Ah ! what a pity that after 
our Saviour has suffered so much to obtain this Paradise, 
this happy kingdom for us, so many foolish sinners should 
renounce it, and give themselves up to hell, for a worthless 
pleasure, for a mere nothing. Let us beseech our dear Lady 
to obtain for us the light to see clearly how miserable are 
the goods of this world, and how great the delight which 
God offers in the world to come, to those who love him. 


i Pater , io rives, i Gloria , on the beads, 




















r v 



hi. 




I N THE third glorious mystery, we contemplate how 
Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of his Father, 
sent down the Holy Ghost to the chamber where the 
apostles, with the Virgin Mary, were assembled. Before 
receiving the Holy Ghost, the apostles were so feeble, so 
cold in the love of God, that at the time of Jesus’ passion, 
one betrayed him, another denied him, and all abandoned 
him. But as soon as they had all received the Holy Ghost, 
they were so much inflamed with love, that they gave up 
their lives generously for Jesus Christ. St. Augustine says 
“ He zt’/io laves does not labor." He who loves God feels 
no affliction under crosses, but rejoices rather. Let us ask of 
Mary to obtain for us from the Holy Ghost the gift of his 
divine love, for then all the crosses of this life will seem 
sweet to us. 





id 1 Gloria , on the beads. 




























Tt)e Assumption of Our Pressed Lad\^ 


I N THE fourth glorious mystery, we contemplate how 
Mary, twelve years after the resurrection of Jems 
Christ departed this life, and was carried up by angels 
to heaven. The death of Mary was full of peace and con- 
solation, because her life had been all holy. Our death will 
not be like hers, for our sins will be then a subject of 
alarm. But if we abandon our sins, and consecrate our- 
selves to the service of Mary, then that good Mother will 
succor and comfort us in that last moment, as she has done 
already to so many of her faithful servants. Let us place 
ourselves, then, under her protection, with the firm purpose 
to amend our lives, and let us ask her now to assist us in the 
hour of our death. 


x Pater , 10 Aves, and i Gloria, on the beads. 





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Tt>e Coronation of Oar lyessed Lad^. 


I N THE fifth glorious mystery, we contemplate how 
Mary was crowned by her divine Son, and we con- 
template her glory among the saints. When Mary was 
crowned in heaven by the hand of God, she was appointed 
also to be our advocate : for this reason, St. Amadeus says, 
that she prays for us incessantly. It is true that Mary 
prays for all men, but she prays especially for those who 
have recourse confidently to her intercession. Let us love, 
then, to say over and over again with St. Philip Neri: 
Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for us ; and while we 
recite this last decade of the Rosary, let us repeat with 
fervor those words of the holy Church, Holy Mary , Mother 
of God , pray for us / 


Recite i Pater, io A~>es, and i 


Gloria , on the beads, 



Prayer 


O GOD ! whose only begotten Son, by his life, death, 
and resurrection, lias purchased for us the rewards 
of eternal life : grant, we beseech thee, that while 
we meditate upon these mysteries in the most holy Rosary 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they 
contain, and obtain what they promise : through the same 
Christ our Lord. Amen. 



Tf)e First Giorioas WQSterQ 

The Resurrection. 


T early dawn on the third day, the three pious 
Marys came to seek their loving Master. 
“What seek ye here?’’ said the angel; “you 
seek Jesus of Nazareth? He is not here. 
He is risen ; behold the place where they 
W laid Him 


xxiv, io). (J day ot 
triumph for our Lord! O day of joy to 
all the faithful ! O radiant hour so eagerly 
expected by our Blessed Mother! How 
Mary had longed and prayed for the Resurrection. She knew 
that the glorious morning of joy would follow the darkness and 
suffering of the night and as her suffering was the greatest that 
a human being ever endured, so was her joy ecstatic beyond 
description. 

What does the Resurrection of Jesus Christ prove to us? It 
proves beyond doubt that He was God as well as man. Though 
He had worked a sufficient number of miracles during His life to 
prove He was the Son of God yet the Divine power wished to show 
conclusively and beyond the shadow of a doubt that He was God 
and to do this the unheard ofTnirade Avas"performed. 


I 








y//-f/////( l 

Before Christ came into the world men had been raised from the 
dead, but always by the power of another, it was rl^ryed.;lor 
Jesus Christ to triumph over death by raising Himself. 

Let tfs so labor in Christ’s vineyard on this earth that when our 
timtj comes to leave this world we can look for a triumphant 
resurrection as a reward for our self-denial and self-mortifica- 


Points of Meditation. 

1. Jesus rises again the third day from the dead. 

2. Jesus conquers death and hell. 

3. Jesus consoles and delivers the Holy Fathers. 

4. Jesus rises gloriously. 

5. Jesus rejoices His Holy Mother. 

6. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene. 

7. Jesus appears to Peter, and blesses him. 

8. The disciples at Emmaus say, “Did not our hearts burn 

within us, when He spoke to us?’’ 

9. Jesus appears in the midst of His disciples and gives them 

His Peace. 

to. Jesus shows His Wounds to St. Thomas. 

VIRTUE— FAITH. 

‘Lord ! I believe ; help my unbelief.” ( Mark ix, 13.) 

We can take no better model of faith for our imitation than the 



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Blessed Virgin, who has been justly styled the mother of faith. 
Because by her faith she has repaired the damage done by the 
unfaithfulness of our first parents. She believed the angel when 
he announced to her the incarnation. Throughout all His perse- 
cutions, sufferings and humiliations, she believed firmly that He 
was her God and Saviour. From the moment of her conception 
until she stood at the foot of the cross her faith never wavered. 
This unwavering faith should be our model. It is the only 
foundation for a good and pure life. Our faith should be a simple 
trusting faith, content to take God’s word and believe it and not 
presume to judge the capabilities of the infinite by what our finite 
reason can comprehend. What is this reason that man boasts of 
and with which he presumes to decide what he should believe? 
It is but the working of a brain, made like our body from the dust 
of the earth, and given to man that he might have the intelligence 
to know and serve God. Cannot the power that created that brain, 
create other things too deep for that brain to understand ? Think 
of this when men seek to corrupt your faith. It is not that faith 
has not reason and prudence or that it elevated itself above reason, 
but as St. Bernard remarks, it is not amenable to reason. We do 
not fix our faith on the penetration of our own intellect, but on 
the authority of God who can neither deceive nor be deceived. 
And this infallible God has granted the gift of infallibility to the 
church that Jesus established on earth to be our guide. 

139 




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“ And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into Heaven, 
and sitteth on the right hand of God .” — Mark xvi : 19. 

O-DAY our invincible Liberator makes His 
triumphant entry into Heaven, enriched 
with the spoils of His enemies. What in- 
difference on our part if we do not cele- 
brate His triumph with pious canticles 
and heavenly joys ! If we behold such 
displays of magnificence when consuls 
and dictators triumph over other 
nations ; when we see triumphal arches 
raised to the clouds bearing their names and the glory of the 
victors, and ascending the Capitol amid the crowd of citizens who 
make the very air resound with their acclamations that reach the 
altars of their gods; what should not our happiness be and our 


Is AV\ 


The Ascension. 


OiM,( A 




® Tfje Second Glorious ® 
A WsterQ. 








jubilations on this glorious festivity on which we celebrate the 
triumph of our great Chief ! 

It is but just, O Lord Jesus! that we should assist with holy 
joy at this celebration of your holy triumph. When you left this 
world, you carried with you all our joy; and although this 
solemnity regards more apparently the holy angels who will 
henceforth rejoice in your divine presence, nevertheless we have 
the greatest portion of this day’s triumph. Your interests are so 
bound up with those of our nature that nothing is accomplished 
in your sacred person, which is not to the advantage of humanity. 
You ascend to Heaven but to open the way for us : “I go to 
prepare a place for you.” ( John xiv, 2.) This is why the Apostle 
St. Paul does not fail to call you our forerunner, and to say that 
you enter Heaven for us in such a manner that, if we understand 
your intentions, you do not to-day frustrate our expectations, but 
increase our hope. 

In effect, let us consider the subject of this magnificent triumph 
made to-day in Heaven. Is it not that Jesus Christ enters there 
as a conqueror? We are His conquest, and it is over our enemies 
He triumphs. The whole Heavenly Court accompany Jesus, they 
proclaim His praises and victories ; they sing that He has broken 
the chains of captives, and that His blood has redeemed the race 
of Adam, which had been eternally condemned. If His quality 
of Saviour is honored, what glory then is ours since the salvation 
and deliverance of man not only makes angels rejoice, but also 
forms the triumph of the Son of God Himself! Let us miserable 
mortals rejoice, let us breathe but the things of Heaven ! The 
divinity of Jesus, always immutable in its greatness, was never 
abased ; consequently, it is not the divinity that is to-day estab- 
lished in glory, since it had never lost any of its dignity. That 

141 










sacred humanity which was'tfespised and treated with so much 
indignity, is to-day elevated ! and if Jesus is crowned on this 
illustrious day, human nature is elevated and placed on that 
august throne before which all Heaven and earth bow. “He who 
descended,” says St. Paul, “is the same also who ascended.” 
( Eph . iv, io.) He who was so little on earth is infinitely great in 
Heaven, and by the power of God His greatness has increased 
according to the measure of His abasement. 


Points of Meditation. 


1. The Ascension of Jesus Christ. 

2. Jesus ascends into Heaven by virtue of His own power. 

3. Jesus quits His beloved disciples. 

4. Jesus promises to remain with them forever. 

5. Jesus promises them the Holy Ghost. 

6. Jesus ascends, He blesses His disciples 

7. Jesus opens Heaven for us. 

8. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God His Father. 

9. Jesus displays His five Wounds, on our behalf, to His 

Heavenly Father. 

10. Jesus is our Mediator in Heaven. 










VIRTUE-HOPE. 


No one hath hoped in the Lord and hath been confounded. 
( Eccles . ii, n.) 

We have no more striking instance of confidence in Jesus Christ 
than that shown by our Blessed Mother at Cana, in Galilee. 
During the marriage feast the wine had run short, Our Lady 
notices it, and being grieved that anything should mar the happi- 
ness of those around her, turns to her son and says, “They have 
no wine.” Jesus’ words in response seem almost like a rebuke. 
“Woman, what is it to Me and to thee?” He acted then as He 
frequently seems to act towards us. He seemingly was disposed 
not to grant the request. But Mary, with her confidence in Him 
unimpaired, simply says to the servants, “Whatsoever He shall 
say to you, do ye,” and the confidence in His power and goodness 
was not misplaced. The miracle was wrought. The water 
became wine. Mary in this instance appealed to her Son in a 
model prayer. She simply stated the need and left it to the 
wisdom of the Almighty to supply the remedy in whatever way 
He saw fit. This is the confidence we should show. God already 
knows our needs, but He desires that we should acknowledge 
them to our Father. The most criminal, corrupt or wicked man 
or woman who wishes to reform can do so, if confident of God’s 
power and hopeful of His mercy. State your needs to God. 
Implore our Blessed Mother to intercede for you, and let His 
all-wise mercy determine what means are best to strike from you 
the chains that are binding you to the devil. 


M 3 





TI)e Tf)ird Glorious Austera. 

The Descent of the Holy Ghost. 

“ But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, 
He will teach you all things .” — John xiv : 26. 

'HEN the days of Pentecost were accom- 
plished the apostles assembled, and 
they heard a noise as it were of a 
great wind, and the Holy Ghost came 
upon them in the form of tongues of 
fire. This Spirit that descended 
on the apostles and transformed them 
in the spirit of strength. Let us con- 
template the effect of His coming on 
the disciples : “Simon, son of John, son of the dove, regenerated 
by the Holy Spirit, Simon whom this Spirit to-day renders worthy 
the title of Peter, by the power He gives you ! it is your place 
to speak for your brethren, since you are the chief of the apos- 
tolic college : speak, then, O disciple ! Heretofore you were the 





most daring to promise, and the most weak to execute, who v^jshed 
to die and three times denied your Master ! this is the time to repair 
your fault.” He knew not Jesus! attend now, and hear how he 
preaches this Jesus, the object of public hate. How changed! 
he was formerly weak by rashly confiding in himself ; to-day he is 
strong by the effect of the Holy Ghost. Hear the words that this 
divine Spirit puts into his mouth : “We preach to you Jesus of 
Nazareth whom the God of our fathers has resuscitated, and whom 
He has made to sit at His right hand, this Jesus whom you cruci- 
fied ; for Pilate wished to save Him, judging Him to be innocent, 
but you have crucified Him, you have denied the Holy One, the 
Just. You asked grace for a thief and a murderer, and you have 
put to death the Author of life.” What courage ! what vehem- 
ence ! for what could be imagined more effectual to confound their 
ingratitude, than to place before their eyes the horror of their in- 
justice — to have preserved the life of Barabbas, who by homicide 
deprived others of life, and to have taken that of Jesus, who gave 
life to all by His grace? No, it is not man that now speaks; it is 
the Holy Spirit that works in him, and which convinces the world 
of sin, because it believed not in Jesus Christ. 

Behold now the Apostle passing from discourse to action, from 
the testimony of words to that of works even to blood ; without 
pride, without being carried away by passion, without the violent 
efforts which souls engaged in a struggle make, but he is excited 




solely by courage given from above, like one who feels the power 
of truth and is sustained alone by its weight. “And they indeed 
went from the presence of the council rejoicing. ( Acts v, 41.) 
What is the subject of this new but cruel persecution? Of what 
had they been judged worthy, of what recompense, of what glory? 
worthy of being maltreated and beaten with rods for the holy 
name of Jesus ! They are again cited before the council of the 
high priests ; they are imprisoned ; they are beaten with rods by 
the hands of the executioners, with cruelty and ignominy ; they 
are threatened with penalties if they preach Jesus Christ. Thus 
they say, “Preach not in that name odious to the world and so 
much do they execrate that adorable name that they will not 
venture to give it expression. To this the apostles answer with 
firmness and courage : “It is not possible for us to remain silent 
concerning what we have witnessed, and what we have heard.” 
(Acts iv, 20.) Remark here their conduct, says St. John Chrysos- 
tom, as if they would have said : We will not be silent. — As 
the will of man is subject to change, their persecutors might have 
hoped to overcome their resolutions ; and therefore, fearful lest 
they might yield to weakness unworthy their sacred calling, they 
again exclaim, “It is not possible 

And why are you not the same weak men that you formerly 
were ? Things are changed ; a divine power has fallen upon us, 
a law has been written on our hearts, an all-powerful spirit fortifies 
and strengthens us. Moved by these inspirations so divine, we 
have imposed upon us the happy necessity of loving Jesus Christ 










more than our life. This is why we cannot obey the world; we 
may suffer, we may die, but we can no longer betray the gospel, 
nor dissimulate what we know from indubitable evidence. 


Points of Meditation, 


1. Jesus sends the Holy Ghost. 

2. Jesus sends the Comforter. 

3. Jesus sends fire upon the earth. 

4. The Holy Ghost inflames all hearts with His love. 

5. The Holy Ghost enlightens their minds. 

6. The Holy Ghost strengthens their hearts. 

7. The Holy Ghost gives the gift of tongues. 

8. The Holy Ghost distributes His gifts. 

9. Come, O Holy Ghost, and visit the hearts of Thy faithful. 

10. Come, O Holy Ghost, enlighten our hearts with the fire of 

Thy divine love. 


VIRTUE -ZEAL FOR SAVING SOULS. 


The more a heart is detached from the things of this world, the 
more it will be filled with the love of God. And it necessarily 
follows the greater your love for God the stronger will be your 
desire to see those souls saved for which Jesus Christ suffered and 


died. 


The Blessed Mother ardently desires that all hearts should 
burn with the same intense fire of love for Jesus that she felt, and 
no more grateful service can be performed for her than the 
aiding to redeem your fellow-man. And furthermore what better 
offering can you bring to God, Himself, than the soul of one of 
His children who would have fallen by the wayside had it not 
been that you were inspired to assist Him. 




You answer this by saying, I would like to save souls, but I am 
not a great orator or writer who can convince people of their sins. 
No, perhaps not, but you can be a living sermon on the virtues, 
by practicing them. 

The speeches of a general on the battlefield are not half so 
inspiring to a timid soldier as the sight of him, sword in hand, 
fearlessly leading on the desperate charge, and fighting in the 
front rank covered with wounds and blood. When a bad and cow- 
ardly Christian sees one who is pious, virtuous and saintly, though 
naturally subject to the same human weaknesses, the sight does 
more to convince him that sanctity is possible, than a volume of 
sermons, and it proves to him that it is his own cowardice, tepidity 
and love of sin that keeps him an enemy of God, rather than the 
natural inability to practice virtue. He reflects on what he has 
seen and in the end condemns his own malice to his Creator. 

We can all lead souls to God gently but powerfully if we prac- 
tice charity towards our neighbor and show him by our example 
what happiness lies in serving the just God. 


Mb 



















S^sfrto 


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4C61S: 

f&td 


Tf)e Fourtf) Olorioa^ i'lQ^tera. 

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. 

HE sacred body of Mary, the throne of 
chastity, the temple of the incarnate 
wisdom, the ark of the Holy Spirit, and 
the seat of the power of the Most High, 
was not to remain in the tomb ; the tri- 
umph of Mary would have been imper- 
fect had it been accomplished without 
her holy flesh which was, as it were, the 
very source of her glory. 

As God had marked a common time for the resurrection of all 
the dead, there are particular reasons why He anticipated that 
time in favor of the Blessed Virgin. The sun produces fruit only 
in its season ; but in some countries we see land so well cultivated 
that it produces vegetation more promptly. There are trees also 
more forward in bearing, in the garden of the Spouse. The holy 
flesh of Mary, being so well prepared, did not await the ordinary 
term to produce immortal fruit. Her virginal flesh drew upon 
her a particular influence, her conformity to Jesus Christ disposed 
her to receive a more prompt effect, a more vivifying virtue ; and, 
certainly, she was wholly capable of attracting His power, since 
she attracted Himself. 

He entered her body, charmed by her purity, He loved this flesh 
even to the enclosing of Himself in it for the space of nine months, 


40 






incorporating Himself with her, even to the taking root in her, 
Tertullian says. He will not leave that beloved body in the tomb, 
but He will transport it to Heaven shining with the glory of 
immortality. Behold that Divine Son extends His arms to you, 
and the whole celestial court admire you, O happy Virgin. “Who 
is this that cometh up from the desert flowing with delight, and 
leaning upon her beloved?” {Cant, i, 5.) 

Truly, O divine Virgin! you are leaning upon your beloved, it 
is from Him you derive all your glory, His mercy is the founda- 
tion of your merits. O ye Heavens ! if it be true, that by your 
mutual accords you form the harmony of the universe, intone 
on a new instrument a canticle of praise. The celestial powers 
who rule your movements invite you to give expression of joy. 
If we are allowed to give -expression to our weak conceptions 
regarding heavenly secrets, on beholding that great Queen, we 
should imagine that Moses could not refrain from repeating that 
beautiful prophecy; “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a sceptre 
shall spring up from Israel.” ( Num . xxiv, 17.) Isaiah, inebriated 
with the Spirit of God and with incomprehensible delight, sang: 
“Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son.” Ezechiel recog- 
nized the closed gate : “It shall not be opened, and no man shall 
pass through, because the Lord the God, of Israel, hath entered 
in by it.” The royal prophet David, in his admirable psalms, 
sings : “The Queen stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing, 
surrounded with variety. All the glory of the King’s daughter is 
from within, after her shall virgins be brought to the King ; they 
shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing.” ( Ps . xliv, 14-16.) 
However, our Blessed Lady observed all these in a respectful 
silence, again drawing from the depth of her heart these excellent 

words: “My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
150 









«/ 


rejoiced in God my Saviour; because He hath regarded the 
humility of His handmaid, for behold from henceforth all genera- 
tions shall call me blessed.” ( Luke i, 46-48.) Shall we poor 
mortals be the only ones that will not take part in this solemnity, 
and shall we not follow by our canticles of praise this incomparable 
princess? O sacred Virgin! even though we are on the banks of 
Babylon, we shall, nevertheless, make our hymns be heard in the 
heavenly Jerusalem. 

Points of Meditation. 


II // 

1. 


2. 


3 - 

1/ I 

4- 


5- 

! 

6. 

hi h 1 

1 1 // 

7- 


8. 



9. Mary is our advocate in Heaven. 

10. Mary is our mediatrix in Heaven. 

VIRTUE— DEVOTION TO MARY. 

“From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” ( Luke 
i, 48). 

Has not the prophecy in the canticle been gloriously fulfilled ! 
All generations of all nations since the beginning of the Christian 

151 







era, have united in offering the incense of praise and devotion 
at the shrine of the Queen of Angels. How many monuments 
have been raised in her honor ; how many churches consecrated 
in her name; how many preachers have been filled with pious joy 
in eulogizing the Refuge of Sinners ! The whole Christian world 
has ever been unanimous in praising and blessing the Virgin 
through whose instrumentality Jesus Christ became Man. 

No better tribute to her power or more beautiful example of 
confidence in her love for humanity has ever been written than 
the glorious memorare of St. Bernard. 

“Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it 
known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, 
and sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this 
confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother! To 
thee I come ; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother 
of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy 
hear and answer me. Amen.” 

Never, indeed, has she been deaf to the pleading of the sinner, 

as innumerable miracles testify. Will you then neglect to take 

advantage of her power and generosity? No, dear Christian 

friend, you will not be so blind. Be devoted to Mary. Pray to 

her frequently and fervently. And, above all, say the Rosary, say 

it attentively. Keep before your mind’s eye the scenes of that 

journey from Nazareth to Calvary. Those fateful scenes that 

should be deeply graven on every Catholic mind. Do this, and at 

the last dreadful day, the day of judgment, you will hear the 

tender voice of your Mother saying to Jesus Christ : “Son, he 

was one of my servants.” And Jesus Christ, turning towards you, 

with His face radiant with heavenly kindness, will say : “Come, ye 

blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from 

the foundation of the world” {Matt, xxv, 34). 

152 




F 








PiftI) Glorious Mastery 


The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 


WO events form a part in the triumph of the 
Holy Virgin : the glory of her soul by 
her love, and the glory of her body ema- 
nating from her soul. Thus the Holy 
Scriptures use extraordinary expressions 
to represent to us the splendor of Mary’s 
) triumph. There was not light enough in 
the world to manifest Mary’s beauty. It 
was necessary that a light from Heaven 
should illuminate it. “And there appeared a great wonder in 
Heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her 
feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” ( Apoc . xii, i) : 
so great is the glory of this virginal body. The love which caused 
her death will also be the means of her triumph. Were we to 
undertake to describe the grandeur, the magnificence, the sub- 
limity of her love, it would require too great a space : we shall 
confine ourselves to these words : It appertains to Him to elevate 
the heart, for it was He who said, “Lift up your hearts.” Sursum 
cor da. Hear the doctrine of the great St. Thomas on this subject : 








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W" 


Those will be raised the highest in glory, who, while oh earth, 
greatest desire to possess God.” The arrow, '<lkcharge< 
from the bow, takes its flight through the air with more swiftness, 
and entefs the target more deeply, when the bow is well strung 
so, in like manner, the faithful soul penetrates more deeply, if 
we can thus express ourselves, into the very essence of God Him- 
self, in proportion to the impetuosity of her desires. If the love 
of Mary was so lively and impetuous, with what ardor must she 
not have united herself to Him who was the only object of her 
heart, and her every desire! Who can express the glory with 
which she was clothed in the joy of her well beloved ! Her 
triumph is not one of vain pomp, the power which is given her is, 
in a manner, the power of God : it is the divine Solomon who 
shares his throne and his crown with his mother. 

May she be the advocate with God for the Church who claims 
her; and may she in her mercy avert the evils which menace 
Christianity ! 

O Holy, O Blessed Mary ! since you are with Jesus Christ 
enjoying that eternal day in His holy presence with rapturous 
delight and a holy familiarity, speak to His heart for us ! speak, 
for your Son hears you. We ask of you not human greatness ; 
obtain for us that humility which has obtained for you your 
immortal crown of glory. 

N§4 S/ 






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Points of Meditation. 

1. Mary gloriously crowned in Heaven. 

2. Mary crowned through her seraphic love. 

3. Mary crowned through her angelic purity. 

4. Mary crowned through her profound humility. 

5. Mary crowned through her perfect obedience. 

6. Mary crowned through her holy prudence. 

7. Mary crowned through her admirable patience. 

8. Mary crowned through her ardent gratitude. 

9. Mary crowned through her holy perseverance. 

10. Mary crowned in Heaven, above all Saints and Angels, with 
the honor due to the Mother of God. 

VIRTUE— PERSEVERANCE. 

One thought should be sufficient to keep the necessity for per- 
severance firmly fixed in our minds, and that is : What will be our 
eternal destiny if we die in mortal sin? It is riot sufficient that 
we live a good and pure life for a time. It must be continued 
without ceasing while we remain in this world of temptation. 
Without perseverance all other virtues go for nothing. Heroic 
virtue, austere penance or perfect purity, if only continued for 
a time, do not make us friends of God. Was not Judas one of 
Christ’s disciples? Had not Solomon been the. admiration of 
the world for his piety and wisdom? But when they allowed 
themselves to be led captive by their evil desires and bad passions 
what was their end? We all have these same desires and pas- 
sions. We are all more or less depraved. That is the inheritance 
from our first parents. According to St. Gregory, the best 


2 s. 









remedy for a depraved mind is the fear of God. It is only through 
this holy fear that we can work perseveringly and unfalteringly 
in the grace of God. Cultivate this fear. He who has it, fears 
nothing else. If he be in a state of grace, suffering and pain, the 
cares and troubles of this world are alike indifferent to him. 
Pray to our Blessed Mother, that she may obtain this fear for us. 
Ask her, through the Rosary, that we may be blessed with the 
grace to persevere and ever to keep before our minds our 
Saviour’s words : “What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole 
world and suffer the loss of his own soul.” 





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Confraternity of tfe Rotary. 

T. FRANCIS DE SALES says: “Enter will- 
ingly into pious Confraternities, particu- 
larly into such as are most productive of 
fruit and edification. You will then exer- 
cise a species of obedience very pleasing 
to God ; for although such Confraternities 
are not commanded, they are recom- 
mended by the Church, which, to testify 
approbation of them, grants Indulgences 
and other privileges to the Associates. Besides, it is always a 
great act of charity to associate and co-operate with others in 
good designs, and God is more glorified by our union and 
co-operation with our brethren and neighbors in piety and good 
works.” 

The Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary founded by St. 
Dominic, is the most ancient and universal in the Catholic Church. 

The faithful join it by giving their names to be registered at 
any Dominican church, or other place where the Confraternity 
has been duly established. The members thus registered under- 
take to say, in the course of each week, the entire Rosary of fifteen 
decades, thus practicing each week a devotion taught by Our 
Lady herself ; an admirable method of meditation on the Incarna- 
tion, the Life, the Passion, the Risen Glory, and the Virtues of 

our Lord ; and uniting with this mental prayer a devotion to Our 

157 





Lady, the most approved sad-lhe most richly indulgenced. For 
hundreds of years this great Confraternity has literally embraced 
the world. The Rosary which is the Gospel meditated, as well as 
the sweetest hymn of praise to Jesus and to Mary, has become the 
daily companion of the learned and of the simple. The Rosary 
has become the instructor of the child in the mysteries of Chris- 
tianity ; the consoler of the afflicted ; the treasure of the poor ; the 
monitor of the rich ; the companion of the missionary ; the prayer 
of the religious ; the crown of the martyr. The Rosary has 
become the emblem of truth and the type of charity. 




fldnaucunnnuaoranucrauui 

ntinnuniiniktiauiinnAniiniiiii 








Litaiw of Oar LadQ of tf)e 
Rjosara. ik 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

Christ, have mercy on us. 

Lord, have mercy on us. 

God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. 

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. 

God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. 

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. 1 
Virgin, hear us. 

Virgin, graciously hear us. 

Holy Mary, 

Holy Mother of God, 

Holy Virgin of virgins, 

Mother of piety, 

Mother of truth, 

Mother of charity, 

Virgin most powerful, 

Virgin most prudent, 

Virgin most clement, 

Handmaid of our meek Lord, 

Humble servant of Christ, 

Faithful servant of God, 

Spouse of the Eternal Father, 

Daughter of the Sovereign King, 

Temple of the Holy Ghost, 

i 59 


Pray for ns. 





Sanctuary of Christ, 

Sacred Treasure of the Paraclete, 
Mirror of justice, 

Seat of Wisdom, 

Fountain of Mercy, 

Health of the weak, 

Refuge of the unfortunate, 
Advocate of sinners, 

More radiant than the stars, 
More beautiful than the moon, 
More brilliant than the sun, 
Ladder of Heaven, 

Gate of paradise, 

Empress of the world, 

Fragrant cedar, 

Myrrh full of virtue, 

Balm full of odor, 

Flowers of virginity, 

Lily of chastity, 

Rose of purity, 

160 



Pray for us. 



Verdant palm, 

Flowering rod, 

Brilliant pearl, 

Precious olive, 

Gentle dove, 

Woman ornamented with grace, 
Burning bush, 

Garden enclosed, 

Sealed fountain, 

Fleece of Gideon, 

Honeycomb of Samson, 

Throne of Solomon, 

Fruitful vine, 

Vessel laden with riches, 

Ark of salvation, 

Glory of the ’world, 

Honor of the people, 

Nurse of the Infant God, 

Queen of Angels, 

Queen of Patriarchs, 

Queen of Prophets, 

Queen of Apostles, 

Queen of Martyrs, 

Queen of Confessors, 

Queen of Preachers, 

Queen of Virgins, 

Queen of all Saints^^-^ 


Pray for us. 






Queen conceived without original sin, Pray for us. 

Queen of the most holy Rosary, Pray for us. 

From the evil of sin, Deliver us, 0 Lady! 

Through your all-saving birth and presentation, Deliver us, 0 
Lady! 

Through your purification and heavenly life, Deliver us, O 
Lady! 

Through your assumption and glorious coronation. Deliver us, 
O Lady! 

Deign to obtain for us the grace of repentance and perse- 
verance, We beseech thee to hear us! 

Deign to preserve the chiefs of the Church and princes of the 
earth, We beseech thee to hear us! 

Deign to augment our Confraternities and all those who are 
faithful to you, We beseech thee to hear us! 

Deign to obtain peace for all Christian people, health and 
abundance in all good, We beseech thee to hear us! 

Deign to bring in safety all ships at sea, obtain victory for 
those who fight for the faith, life and grace to all the faithful, and 
eternal rest for the souls departed, We beseech thee to hear us! 

We salute you who reign in Heaven, Succor us, O Lady our 
Queen! 

We salute you who are so merciful in Heaven, Lend us your 
assistance, O Queen! 

We salute you who are so benign, Intercede for us, 0 Queen! 

162 








V . Holy Mary, Mother of Christ, hear the prayers of your poor 
servants. 

R. Deign to obtain pardon for our faults. 

V. Pray for us, all ye saints of God. 

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

V. Save thy servants. 

R. Trusting in you, O my God! 

Prayer. 

Hear, O Lord, in your mercy ! the supplications of your 
servants, that, being united in the confraternity of the most holy 
Rosary of the Virgin Mother of God, we may by her powerful 
intercession be delivered from all the perils which threaten us. 

We beseech thee, O Lord ! to permit the angels and saints to 
pray for us, and deign in your bounty and goodness to hear them 
in our behalf. 

Receive, O Lord ! with indulgence the prayers of the Church, 
that, after having overcome her enemies, she may be able to serve 
you with freedom and peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord 
and Saviour. Amen. 

V. Hail full of grace. 

R. The Lord is with thee. 

V. Blessed art thou among women. 

R. And blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. 

V. Holy Mary, Mother of God. 

R. Pray for us sinners. Amen. 

Bless us, O Virgin Mary, with your sweet Son. Amen. 

163 






'illllllllllilil 



Miracles of tfe l\osaru 


'HE following examples of the efficacy of the 
y/fo Rosary as a means of obtaining 
extraordinary graces and favors, are 
^ taken from the writings of the ancient 
^ authors and Fathers of the Church. 
y They are but a drop in the ocean of 
__ mercies obtained through the Blessed 
are sufficient to 


Virgin, but they 
strengthen our confidence and inspire 
us with the firm hope that any legitimate request will be answered 
in God’s own good way if we have faith and persevere. 

Blessed Alanus, of the Order of St. Dominic, was a most zeal- 
ous preacher of the Rosary during the fifteenth century. In order 
to excite the faithful to greater fervor in this devotion, he 
delighted in recounting to them the wonderful favors obtained 
through the Rosary. Among other things he told how a sinner, 
to whom had been taught this devotion, obtained through it so 
great a contrition for his sins, and wept for them with such 
an abundance of tears, that it was thought the Blessed Virgin 
had appeared to him and thanked him for his frequent recital of 
it ; and she proved to him that he had good reasons to salute her 
and say to her, “Hail ! full of grace !” that is to say, O thou without 
sin, pity me ! 

A religious, whose dull mind was incapable of understanding 
human sciences, applied himself to the frequent recital of the 
psalter of Mary, and received from the Holy Mother of God 




such marvelous wisdom, that he merited a place among the princes 
of science. Thus she justified her name, Maria, which means 
illuminatrix. The Blessed Virgin accorded to one of her clients 
of the Rosary to enjoy daily one of the joys of paradise, thus 
showing, by this favor, that she herself was truly a fountain 
of grace. 

The most sweet Queen of Angels drew from the dregs of misery 
one of her servants, and made of her the mother of the poor ; 
because it is said of her, that she abounds in all riches. 

The Blessed Virgin broke the chains of several captives who 
had vowed to recite the Rosary daily, proving by this that she 
truly is sovereign, for her Son is the Lord. 

An unfortunate man, a prey to all the furies of rage, was on 
a sudden cured, and became as mild as a lamb, by the touch of the 
Rosary which was placed on his neck. This shows that the power 
and virtue of Christ truly belong to His Mother. 

A dumb person immediately obtained the faculty of speech by 
kissing a Rosary and passing it around his neck, for it has been 
said of Mary : “Blessed art thou,” meaning that “she doth all 
things well.” 

A poor widow whose chief support rested upon the favorable 

result of a lawsuit, knowing that the judge was averse to her 

claim, made a vow to our Lady of the Rosary. Three different 

times the judge was about to pronounce sentence against her, but 

an unknown power dictated a judgment altogether conformable 

to the interests of the woman. The most clement Mother of God 

had interceded with her divine Son, and He who is blessed by 

excellence, and who is the blessed judge among all, says St. Augus- 

165 



tine, had put words of justice into the mouth of this man, and had 
forced him to bless when he would have condemned. 

A barren woman asked our Lady of the Rosary to bless her 
with a son ; and the most holy Mother of God, after being invoked 
in the name of the blessed fruit of her womb, deigned to accord 
to that woman the happiness of becoming a mother, and even 
resuscitated the same child which died in its infancy. 

A courtesan, weary of vice and wishing to re-enter the path of 
virtue, implored the Mother of Mercy through means of the 
Rosary, and supplicated her in honor both of her maternity and 
virginity, to purify her life. The Blessed Virgin heard her prayer ; 
and she who had followed so sinful a course now astonished all 
Picardy by the heroism of her mortification, and, like another 
Magdalen, was an admirable model of penitence. 

A man, being overwhelmed by the weight of his miseries, and 
not being able to withstand the ruin of his honor and fortune, 
resolved to end his days. As a last act of religion, before putting 
his fatal project into execution, he entered a Church and recited 
the Rosary. His despair immediately vanished, and being filled 
with consolation and courage, he returned with a strong hope 
of regaining his former position. It is not in vain that the mother 
of pity is implored, and that the name of Jesus which we 
pronounce in the Ave Maria means Saviour, because Jesus has 
saved the world, and still saves the world, from sin, its follies, and 
despair. 

The Student of the University of Louvain. 

Two young men of the above university had spent the day in 

shameful excesses. Night approaching found them still indulging 

in their sinful pleasures. On the night-watch announcing the 

hour of eleven, one of these unfortunate young men, who was in 
1 66 




the habit of reciting the Rosary daily, remembered that he had 
not fulfilled this pious duty. In spite of the raillery of his com- 
panion, he arose from the table and repaired to his lodgings, the 
better to perform his accustomed devotion. He had not quite 
finished his Rosary, when his companion, whom he had just left, 
appeared before him environed in flames. “I am damned,” said 
he, “the excesses of this day have filled the measure of my 
iniquities ; God has stricken me with an unprovided death, and 
behold me now in hell !” “Oh, what !” cried the young man, 
tremblingly, “can I believe my eyes ? how is it that I, your accom- 
plice in crime, am spared?” “It is because thou hadst a 
protectress, and I had none. The chaplet which thou holdest in 
thy hand, and our Lady of the Rosary, have been the means of 
saving thee; and the demons, in spite of all their efforts to unite 
our fates, have not been able to succeed.” It was thus that this 
young man experienced the truth of the words of a learned doctor : 
“The Rosary is a most sure means to obtain mercy from our 
Saviour.” 

A Monastry Reformed. 

A convent of Benedictine Nuns had fearfully fallen from its 

primitive fervor ; the choral office was abandoned, holy obedience, 

the spirit of poverty, of recollection, of silence, and of labor, were 

unknown. The love of luxury, vanity, and worldliness had 

replaced the austere practices which rendered famous the 

renowned order of St. Benedict. The abbot of the order, charged 

with the visitation of the monastery, undertook a reform. On 

the abbot’s first broaching the subject of regular observance, all 

the religious murmured, and declared they would not change 

their manner of living. They even went so far as to excite their 

167 






4 






numerous friends against the visitor. These friends endeavored to 
hinder the reformation, overwhelmed the unfortunate abbot with 
gross outrages, and exercised such violence that he was obliged 
to leave. The following year he returned, but he announced to 
the religious that he came merely to satisfy the duty of his office, 
and that he had abandoned the idea of reformation. The religious 
received him with great courtesy, and he confined himself to some 
general advice which they graciously received. The visitor before 
leaving, however, presented to each sister a Rosary of great value, 
hoping it would be acceptable by reason of the costliness of the 
material and the beauty of the workmanship, at the same time 
requesting the favor of their reciting it daily. This they promised 
him, in honor of the Blessed Virgin and through consideration for 
himself ; so the abbot departed without one word about reform. 
What he could not achieve the holy Rosary accomplished. 

These religious, being faithful to the abbot’s request, in a short 
time felt the efficacy of their prayer ; and, from their contemplating 
frequently these holy mysteries, they soon desired to be less 
unworthy of their vocation. Accordingly, they recalled the Father 
Visitor, and asked him to undertake the reform of the monastery. 
The good abbot did so with alacrity and success ; and, thanks to the 
holy Rosary, the house was soon changed into a nursery of saints. 

A Christian Death Obtained by the Rosary. 

M. Leon Foucault, a member of the Institute of Paris, who 

gloried in his science, and who was pleased the day before his death 

to relate his many and prodigious discoveries, was attacked by one 
1 68 



















of the most terrible maladies against which medical art was fruit- 
less. This man’s time was wholly occupied by science, and he 
allowed himself to be absorbed by his wonderful discoveries, and 
had no time whatever at his disposal to think of his God ; if his 
faith was not dead, it slept profoundly. It now became necessary 
to awaken him. 

A religious was sent for by the mother of the invalid, after an 
alarming crisis of the disease. On being summoned, the religious 
immediately repaired to the dwelling of the sick man, reciting 
the Rosary as he journeyed, and conjuring our Blessed Lady to 
enlighten and save that soul for whom many prayers had been 
offered. M. Foucault received the priest with sentiments of joy 
and asked the favor of frequent visits, a grace obtained through 
the mediation of the most holy Virgin. At each interview the 
conversation was always turned on God, the soul and eternity. 
But faith so dormant was not easily reawakened in the soul of 
this man so eminently scientific, and who was a total stranger 
to Christianity. 

“I know too much,” said he, one day, to the priest, “I know too 
much, and yet not enough to have faith.” He believed in God, 
in a mediator, but could not believe in Jesus Christ. The priest 
endeavored to prove to him, that bv his intelligence, his life, and 
his actions, Jesus Christ proved to the world that He was more 





than man, and could be nothing less than God. He also 
endeavored to recall to the sick man the names of great men who ^|||^ 

were fervent adorers of Jesus Christ; he cited to him many 
eminent men of that epoch who in their last moments embraced 
the faith of the gospel, and who had found hope and strength ‘ 
in the crucifix. These and similar reflections made a deep impres- 
sion on the mind of the invalid, but did not elicit that act of faith 
so necessary for his salvation. He had even made an avowal of 
his sins, but dared not believe in the possibility of a pardon 
through the sacraments. The days passed, his last hour 
approached, no time was to be lost ; his intelligence, always lucid 
heretofore, now had whole hours of eclipse in which he could not 
give expression to his thoughts. At this critical moment the priest 
said to the mother of the dying man, that there was but one more 
remedy: he counseled her to make a vow to the Blessed Virgin, 
to have Mass celebrated every Saturday in honor of our Lady of 
the Rosary. The day on which the vow was made, the priest 
found the sick man extraordinarily well disposed. What could 
have so touched his heart? He was no longer the same man, but 
was now open to faith and grace, and, praying fervently, asked 
for pardon. He received the sacrament of penance in sentiments 
of the most lively compunction, and when the priest said to him, 

“Go in peace, you are now in the grace and friendship of God, you 











JcyoOOOOOOOOOOUOOOOOO^Y^OOOOOO' 


pooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo' 


poooonoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooa 


■JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOcXgOOOOOOoKc, 


may hope,” — the sick man in a distinct voice said, “I may hope?” 
“Yes, you may hope, and God will receive you into His loving 
embrace, and will give you a share in the mysteries of eternal 
science.” — A flash of joy passed over the countenance of the 
dying man. That evening, in the course of conversation, both 
priest and penitent, experienced an ineffable happiness. At parting, 
the priest said to him : “I cannot press your hand (the arms of 
the sick man being under the cover) ; permit me to embrace you !” 
The poor paralytic suddenly received strength to withdraw his 
arms, and affectionately pressed the priest to his heart. 

The priest and sick man met once more : the seal of reconcilia- 
tion was placed on the work of his conversion. 

The following Saturday, according to the vow, a Mass was 
celebrated in honor of our Lady of the most Holy Rosary. When 
the minister of God again made his accustomed visit, the sick man 
was worse and seemed to have lost all consciousness ; the 
afflicted mother asked the minister of God to give to her son the 
sacrament of extreme unction. The priest hesitated, fearing that 
these ceremonies to which the sick man was a stranger, might 
not be understood by him. On approaching his bedside, he asked 
him if he knew him, and, opening his eyes, the patient said, 
“Yes! yes!” — The priest then reminded him of God’s goodness, 
and begged him to resign himself entirely to His divine will, since 
man could do nothing more for his recovery ; he told him likewise 
that in the Catholic Church there was a sacrament instituted for 
the sole benefit of the sick, called extreme unction. Its effects 
are to efface the remains of sin, to prepare the soul to appear 
before God ; and sometimes it restores to health when God judges 




JR 






to be for the good of man. The sick man listened attentively. The 
priest, fearful of being refused, asked, tremblingly, “Will you 
receive this sacrament?” “Yes, I will,” responded the dying man. 
“Will it give you happiness?” “Yes, I am sure it will.” “Shall 
I now administer it to you?” “Yes!” and a ray of joy diffused 
itself over his countenance: both the priest and himself under- 
stood each other, and were happy in entertaining the same 
sentiments. 

On the priest appearing with the holy oils, he found him in a 
state of lethargy which continued five days ; he was apparently 
in a long agony, but his last words had been acts of faith and 
contrition. 


A Devout Client of the Ave Maria. 


A soldier, after having long fought in the service of his king, no 
longer wishing to fight but for his God under the standard of 
religion, knocked one day at the gate of a monastery of the order 
of Citeaux. St. Bernard received him as a father, and gave 
him the habit of a lay brother. This good brother was incapable 
of learning anything but the Ave Maria. It was continually 
upon his lips, and sleep alone interrupted this prayer. St. Ber- 



GOG 


OOOOOO 


oooddc. 


nard, touched with his holy simplicity and saintly life, made him 
enter, in spite of his ignorance of letters, among the religious of 
the choir, whom he edified till his death by his touching devotion 
to the Holy Virgin, and by his ardor in reciting the Angelical 
Salutation. The day of his death drew near when God called him 
to the joys of eternal repose. His body was deposited in their 
cemetery. A lily bloomed on his grave, within whose calyx these 
word, Ave Maria, were distinctly seen. St. Bernard, surprised 
at this prodigy, wished to know whence the lily took its root. The 
religious removed the earth from the grave, and found it to pro- 
ceed from the mouth of the deceased Brother. By this miracle, 
the Blessed Virgin wished the inmates of this monastery to under- 
stand how agreeable to her is the recital of the Angelical Saluta- 
tion. 

The Old Soldier and His Rosary. 

An aged soldier, being overcome with fatigue, and suffering 
from many wounds received in battle, had found a home in the 
hospital of incurables at Anvers. He had grown old in the camp, 
but had preserved his heart pure; consequently, he was easily 
impressed with piety. A priest who visited him taught him the 
devotion to the holy Rosary, and the poor soldier found so much 
consolation in this prayer, that he wept at learning it so late. 
“Had I but known it sooner,” he said, “I should have recited it 
daily but, in the ardor of his regret, he endeavored to supply 
the time lost, and he said his chaplet with the accelerated speed 
of a traveler who, being exposed to the rays of the burning sun, 

seeks to gain the shade. Not hoping for his recovery, he said with 

i73 






i 



great simplicity : “If the i||h£) Virgin would but accord me two 
years more of life. I would recite as many Rosaries as there have 
been days in my life.” He then asked how many days there were 
in sixty years. He was told twenty-one thousand nine hundred. 
He then asked how many Rosaries he would have to recite daily, 
to complete the number in two years? He was told, thirty! The 
aged soldier, undaunted, imposed this duty upon himself with 
alacrity. Night and day he had his Rosary in his hand, and in 
two years he arrived, enlightened and improved by his piety, at the 
completion of his pious and self-imposed duty. Death there 
awaited him ; he lived not a day, not even an hour over the time, 
and he expired reciting the last Ave Maria. This poor soul went 
to contemplate in glory her who had been the support and con- 
solation of his old age. 


The Rosary and the Souls in Purgatory, 


Peter Basta, of the society of Jesus, had a very great devotion 
to the souls in purgatory, and it was his custom to recite the 
Rosary daily for this intention. Fatigue and numerous occupa- 
tions caused him once to forget this pious duty. During the night 
he was gently awakened by a beautiful young man who put a 
Rosary in his hand, and said : “The souls in purgatory await the 






pious alms which thou art accustomed to offer.” Peter arose 
quickly, regretting exceedingly his neglect ; and the better to make 
reparation, and that he might pray with more fervor, he went to 
a church of our Lady of the Rosary. He there recited the chaplet 
with all possible devotion and then returned to his home. At the 
corner of a street he was suddenly assailed by some wicked men 
with the intention of an assault, when some unknown persons ran 
to his succor, put the aggressors to flight, and accompanied him 
to his house. The good religious thanked his generous friends ; 
and being about to inquire who they were, these unknown persons 
at once disappeared, and he found himself alone at the entrance 
of his house. The unknown were the souls from purgatory for 
whom he had prayed, and who, by divine permission, came to 
protect, and lend assistance to, their generous benefactor. 

The Efficacy of the Rosary with the Heart of Jesus. 

In the time of St. Dominic, a venerable religious of the Abbey 
of Chartreuse was most faithful in reciting daily the Chaplet of the 
Blessed Virgin ; and, as a reward, it was revealed to him, how 
great was the power of the holy Rosary over the Heart of Jesus. 
He saw in a vision the Son of God seated upon His throne armed 
with fiery darts, ready to hurl them on the world, when the Blessed 
Virgin withheld His arm, saying : “Oh, my dear Son, have mercy 
on sinners that they may have time to repent.” Then the Lord 
replied — “Do they not say that I am just in all my ways? Why 
not exercise my justice? Behold this world: does not iniquity 






wield the sceptre everywhere? why should I not give free scope 

to my justice?” “It is true, my well beloved Son, you are justice 

itself, but you are also mercy. Does not your mercy extend over 

all things? this is why you cannot refuse your grace, for it is 

written that in your indignation you will exercise mercy.” “You 

say truly, my dear Mother ; I wish to be merciful ; but no one asks 

mercy: I must be just.” “My dear Son, although men do not 

implore your mercy, nevertheless they desire it to be accorded 

them: you know that human nature itself tends to corruption, and 

that it cannot redeem itself without the succor of your grace. This 

is why I, who am called the Mother of grace and mercy, cannot 

refuse it to them ; I have now only an humble petition to make.” — 

“Speak, my Mother, speak, your Son cannot refuse you.” — “O 

my Son, as the world is but a mass of evil from end to end, and 

even the Church counts among her members many stained with 

sin, yet I will pour over it a sweet balm, and whosoever shall 

partake of it and make proper use of it, shall be entirely healed.” 

And the Queen of Mercy added : “There is a man who has the 

custom of reciting the psalter — fifteen Paters and one hundred 

and fifty Aves — and who also meditates on the mysteries of your 
176 



incarnation, nativity, your life, your death, my compassion, and 
the joys of your resurrection: I ask of you, that whosoever shall 
say devoutly these prayers with the meditations, will obtain the 
grace of a happy death, be delivered from all dangers, and that 
you turn your anger from them.” 

The King then laid aside the fiery darts, and, embracing His 
Mother, said : “O my well beloved Mother, I am not permitted 
to reject your petition so conformable to my desire for the 
salvation of mankind. He who will do what you require, shall 
obtain of me grace and life eternal ; and you may accord to those 
of your servants such grace if they faithfully practice the Rosary 
with its meditations.” — The King again lovingly embraced His 
Mother, who then seated herself on the throne in the midst of the 
acclamations and joyous chants of the whole celestial court. 


The Rosary and the Knight, 


During the time that Simon de Montfort was in arms against 
the Albigenses, who were the first to draw the sword themselves, 
St. Dominic undertook a more pacific mode of warfare, the 
glorious crusade of the Holy Rosary. He earnestly recommended 
his favorite devotion to all Christians, but particularly to the 
soldiers exposed to the hazards of war. 

A Breton cavalier, a brave warrior, but an indifferent Christian, 
adopted, like his companions, that holy practice, less through a 
spirit of faith than the desire to escape the dangers of the battle- 






field. One day, whilst traversing a forest, he was surprised by 
the enemy, who lay in ambuscade and called upon him to 
surrender. The Breton drew his sword, on the hilt of which 
was suspended a Rosary, and, attacking his assailants with great 
bravery, he soon caused them to retreat. He replaced his sword 
in the scabbard, and then perceived the Rosary which he detached 
with devotion and placed on his arm, so that he could easily recite 
it while guiding his charger. His enemies, ashamed and 
humiliated, renewed the attack. Encouraged by his first success 
the Breton stood his ground, and brandishing his sword, wounded 
several of his antagonists and put the others to flight, without 
receiving an injury. One of the wounded explained to him the 
cause of his marvelous victory : — “When you faced us, it seemed 
to us that you held in your hand a flaming sword which struck us 
with terror, and we fled from you in great fear. When we 
attacked you the second time you were protected by a shield, on 
which was represented the figure of our Lord crucified, the 
Blessed Virgin, and a great number of saints, against which our 
arrows fell harmless, while we felt every stroke of your sword — 
and even now I see the buckler on your arm.” The Breton 
recognized at once that the marvelous shield was his Rosary. 
Touched by this significant mark of grace, he amended his life, 
renounced his warlike career, became a lay-brother in the order 
of Friar Preachers, and to the latest moment of his life was 

especially devoted to the person of St. Dominic. 

178 






Chastisement of an Enemy of the Rosary. 

The Dominicans of the city of Ghent worked, through means 
of the Rosary, an immense good, and, consequently, drew upon 
themselves the hatred of the impious, which chiefly arose from 
these good religious frustrating their malicious designs. The 
Senate proscribed the Fathers, and forbade the citizens to cross 
the threshold of their church ; not even were they allowed to attend 
their sermons, to speak to them, or to give them alms ; it was hoped 
that these severe measures would reduce them to such distress, 
that finally, in their extremity, they would be necessitated to 
abandon their mission. These intrepid servants of Mary, spurning 
persecution, would not thus desert the field to which she had called 
them ; they would not tolerate the reproach, like the spouse in the 
Canticles : “I have not guarded my vineyard.” They remained 
there relying on Providence, who provides for the flowers of the 
field, as well as also for the most insignificant insects, the neces- 
saries of subsistence. One day, when their provisions were 
entirely exhausted, two young men were seen to approach the 
convent with corn and other provisions, and stopping at the gate, 
they told the procurator they had received orders to deposit the, 
contents of their wagon at this monastery. They immediately 
disappeared before the religious order could ascertain their names, 
or learn whence they came. The good Dominican fathers, not 
doubting for a moment that God in His goodness had sent two 
Angels to relieve them in their great distress, went instantly to 
the chapel of the Holy Rosary, and chanted the Te Deum in 
thanksgiving for this evident mark of the tender mercy of God. 
At that moment the Governor of the city, passing before the 
church, was highly exasperated to hear men sing whom he 

considered to be in a dying condition for the want of food; he 

179 







uttered against them and the Madonna who was their protectress, 
the most horrible imprecations. Spurring his horse, he resolved 
on new projects of vengeance; but scarcely had he gone a few 
paces when he was suddenly attacked by an unknown disease, 
he fell from his horse, and his brains were scattered all over the 
pavement. 


Triumph of the Rosary over Idolatry. 


A celebrated Spanish Dominican, Father Gonsalvo Lucero, 
went to carry the light of the Gospel to the West Indies. He was 
indefatigable in his zeal for the salvation of souls, and employed 
his whole life and strength to effect their conversion. He entered 
upon his mission with great courage, and no labor, sorrow, or 
danger could, in the least deter him from duty ; and a thousand 
times was h'e exposed to death. He penetrated even into the 
depths of the forest in search of the Indians, crossed mountains, 
inured himself to every hardship, adopted their mode of life, 
called himself their brother, — all this and still more did he do, 
in order to enlighten their darkened minds. But the vices of the 
Europeans retarded the conversion of these poor savages, and 
the hatred they bore the Spaniards withheld them from embracing 
their religion. Seeing the little success of his labors, Father 
Lucero resolved to have recourse to the Rosary, with the hope that 
through its means he might obtain their speedy conversion. He 
had a picture painted of our Lady of the Rosary, surrounded by 
the fifteen Mysteries. He exposed it to view in the hut which 
served him as a chapel, and convoked the Indians to a great 
ceremony. When they had assembled around him, he uncovered 







mm 


The Weight of the Rosary, 


Once there lived an unfortunate usurer named Jacob, who, 
notwithstanding his evil habit of extortion and rapine, had 
preserved, strange to say, a great devotion to the Rosary, and 
daily recited the fifteen Mysteries. He thought that, by this pious 
act, he repaid God for that of which he deprived man. It is to 
be deplored that there are many Jacobs now, who imagine that 
their injustices can be atoned for by like satisfactions; they forget 
the expression of the Gospel : “It Is not those who say Lord, Lord, 
that shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” 

The Blessed Virgin, who was daily invoked by this wretched 
man, sought to touch his hardened heart and to remove the scales 
from his eyes. One evening, while reciting his usual prayers, 
he was alarmed by hearing a voice as of thunder, which said . 
“Jacob, render an account, at once, of thy deeds to my Son.” The 
usurer, terror stricken, entered into himself and changed his 


manner of life; but his cupidity was stronger than his corre- 
spondence with grace, and he delayed making restitution. Sickness 
at length brought him to the gate of death, yet he would not make 
the amends which his conscience required. He had a dream at 
this time which was the means of his conversion. He saw 
himself in spirit transported to God’s tribunal. The Arch-angel, 
Saint Michael, held in his hand a balance in which he weighed all 
his merits and demerits. The left scale in which were placed his 
frauds, cupidities and thefts, far outweighed all his good works, 
and, before Almighty God had pronounced his sentence, Jacob had 
regarded himself as lost. Fear deprived him of all courage, and 
he had not even the thought of recommending himself to the most 
Holy Mother of God ; but she whom he had invoked daily 
remembered these words, “Pray for us sinners now and at the 
hour of our death.” She, who has never been vainly invoked, 
hastened to the succor of her servant, and placed in the right-hand 
scale a Rosary with all her merits and those of her divine Son, 
which infinitely outweighed his evil deeds. Jacob instantly awoke, 
light entered his hitherto darkened soul ; he made a division of his 
goods, giving one part to those victims of his injustice, and the 
other to the poor. 

Consoled and fortified by this act of justice, he slept piously 
in the peace of the Lord. 

The Martyrs of the Rosary in 1868 . 

The recital of the Rosary in Russia is so abhorred that it is 

looked upon as an act of high treason, and a heresy against the 

Greek schism. One evening, when the villagers of Pragaeliuz 

were assembled in the church to recite the Rosary, the chief caitiff 

caused the church to be surrounded by the Cossacks, who laid 

siege to it. Hearing of this assault, the inhabitants of the 
182 







neighboring village, Budno, came to the aid of the besieged, and 
by their additional force drove back the enemy. But the Governor 
Gromaka, notorious for his brutality, brought from Serespal by 
railway two companies of infantry and a number of Cossacks 
against the insurgent ' illagers. He pursued the inhabitants and 
surrounded them by his superior forces. In spite of all this, the 
Ruthenes did not lose their wonted courage, and nobly said to the 
Russians : “You may deprive us of life, but you cannot take from 
us our faith.” Gromaka, to intimidate these courageous peasants, 
ordered his troops to fire on these poor defenceless people. Then 
he ordered the arrest of three hundred ; he sent half to Bryesz 
and Warsaw, the remaining portion to Siedlce. Of this number 
scarcely any ever returned to their homes ; from which fact it may 
be surmised that their fate was to die as exiles in Siberia. 


The Rosary is the School of True Perfection. 


The venerable Magdalene Angelica, of Lorca, owed to her 
devotion to the Holy Rosary that great perfection which made 
her life a mirror of every virtue. She had the happiness of 
having, for her guide in perfection, a true man of God, Father 
Anofrio di Pine. This skillful director inspired her to take for 
her guidance the example of our Lord and His holy Mother, in 
the mysteries of the Rosary ; for a long time, he confined her 
devotion solely to the contemplation of the five Joyful Mysteries, 
to initiate her into the virtues of the holy infancy of the Saviour, 
and to the marvelous qualities which drew the favor of Heaven 


upon the Blessed Virgin. When Magdalene had taken the habit 

383 











of the order of St. Dominic, to inspire her with a true spirit of 
penance, which is one of the characteristics of the order, he 
commanded her to meditate specially on the Dolorous Mysteries. 
In the contemplation of these, this pious sister drew an immense 
love for mortification and the holy austerities of the Rule : she 
wished to renew in herself the passion and sufferings of her divine 
Master. When she had advanced to mature age and greater 
perfection, her confessor recommended to her the contemplation 
of the Glorious Mysteries. In this divine commerce of her soul 
with our Lord Jesus Christ in the mysteries of His glory, this holy 
religious arrived at a great union with God. When reciting the 
Rosary, she felt herself wholly penetrated and enveloped by the 
divinity. The light that flooded her soul radiated around her, 
and she appeared transfigured by the glory of Thabor. It was 
thus that the Rosary became for Magdalene Angelica a school of 
perfection, the means of her sanctity, and the source of her eternal 
happiness. 

The Chaplet and the Courtesan. 

There lived in Cagliari a woman noted for her disorderly and 
sinful life. She was so beautiful that she attracted the sons of 
the nobility, who formed her court, and thought it an honor to 
receive her smiles. Her gardens were embellished with statuary 
of the most lascivious kind, and her palace was richly ornamented 
with paintings of the same profane character. Only one pious 
souvenir was to be found in her apartment. A Rosary hung at 
the head of her bed, but now never passed through her fingers. 

It was a memento of her Christian childhood, and served as a 

184 











reproach for lost innocence. Many times would she have removed 
this source of annoyance, but some mysterious hand withheld 
her. The Mother of God employed this Rosary as a talisman 
to attract this poor sinner to virtue, as we shall see from the 
following incident : — One day, upon entering her room, she missed 
the Rosary from its place ; the cord upon which the pearls were 
strung was broken, and they were scattered on the floor ; thinking 
this merely an accident, and without thought, she re-strung them, 
and hung the Rosary in its former position. The next day, and 
for several successive days, the same thing happened. The poor 
sinful creature, now entering into herself, fully understood by this 
miracle that the Mother of God was offended at her base conduct. 
She shed torrents of tears, and made the following humble prayer : 
“O Mother of Jesus ! I wish your aid in reconciling me to your 
divine Son ; but dare I hope for it, since I have so grievously 
offended Him and you by my sinful course for so many years? can 
you afford protection to one so culpable? O sweet and tender 
Mother of pity! show that your mercy is greater than my sins; 
obtain the grace of pardon from your divine Son for me.” — 
Fortified by this prayer, and led by the Blessed Virgin, she at once 
cast herself at the feet of a confessor, and received, amid a torrent 
of contrite tears, the remission of her manifold crimes. 





The Rosary is the Key of Purgatory. 

'wm 

M a monastery of the Dominicans of Milan, a young lay-sister, 
named Angela, died in the odor of sanctity in the year 1673. This 
virtuous young sister observed to the letter the words of Jesus 
Christ : “I give you a new commandment that you love one 
another : the mark by which you shall be known to be my disciples 
is, that you love one another.” Angela took for her leading virtue 
charity, which she extended to all; particularly did she apply it 
to the souls in purgatory. She offered for them most fer- 
vent prayers, all her labor, sought humiliations, imposed on 
herself penances, practiced mortifications, and submitted 
to many painful sacrifices for obtaining their deliverance. 
One day being transported in spirit to purgatory, she recognize 
a religious of her convent, Sister Constantine Marie, for whom 
she had entertained a devoted love. This poor soul avowed to her, 
that her greatest suffering arose from the confusion and shame 
she felt in having offended a God so good, who had done so much 
and suffered such intense torture for her, and how badly she 
had corresponded with His innumerable graces. Angela was 
deeply moved at her beloved sister’s sad recital ; and, knowing 
the great virtue of the Rosary, she instantly recited it for > 
benefit of thjs poor suffering soul. Before the termination of 









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the Rosary this holy sister was ravished into ecstasy, and she 
perceived the soul of Constantine Marie quitting her dreary 
prison all resplendent in glory, and taking a seat on a throne of 
light in the midst of angels and saints. 


The Broken Compact, 


A man who did not understand that mediocrity often gives more 
happiness than wealth, and who did not know that true joy had its 
source in the soul, continually deplored the poverty to which he 
was reduced, and his heart was soon open to all his dreams of 
ambition towards acquiring wealth. The Devil knew that with 
gold he could master such a man : he appeared one day and 
promised him more wealth than ever he had desired, if he would 
but comply with three things : ‘‘Renounce your baptism, deny 
God, and sign with your blood a compact that you shall always 
belong to me.” The unfortunate man complied with the wishes 
of the fiend, who instantly disappeared, carrying the deed with 
him, and leaving in exchange a princely fortune. But wealth 
does not always create happiness, for in the midst of all his 
splendor, this unfortunate man became more unhappy than when 
in poverty ; and he now for the first time realized that true happi- 
ness has its source in duty well performed, and in the testimony of 
a good conscience. Having entered a church on the festival of the 
Rosary, he heard the preacher affirm that the greatest sinners 
found grace through means of the Rosary. Suddenly, a ray of 
hope entered his soul ; he felt he would obtain pardon, so he began 
to practice this devotion with great fervor. At times, while 


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reciting it, the Devil would appear and say to him : “Why take 
such pains ? thou belongest to me, and nothing can withdraw thee 
from my power. Thou thyself hast signed the deed of thy 
damnation.” And thus saying, he would endeavor to snatch the 
chaplet from the hands of the unfortunate man. The repentant 
sinner nevertheless persisted in his prayer to the Holy Virgin ; 
and while reciting it one day before her image, begging her to 
obtain for him mercy, a mysterious paper fell before his eyes, 
which he immediately recognized to be his own handwriting. It 
was that very compact which he had signed that the Mother of 
God returned to him. Touched by a lively gratitude, for the 
remainder of his days he practiced, with still more zeal, the 
devotion of the Rosary to which he attributed his conversion and 
the salvation of his soul. 

Famine on Board a Ship. 

A vessel bound for the West Indies had on board three hundred 

mariners and soldiers, also six hundred Moorish slaves. Their 

voyage was greatly retarded by contrary winds, and, consequently, 

1 88 




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the provisions became so scarce that it was necessary to diminish 
each man’s rations. As long as possible their dangerous situation 
was concealed from them, but at last, the captain was constrained 
to announce that the last morsel of food was consumed. Nothing 
now remained in their great extremity of distress but to implore 
Heavenly succor: this announcement was received amid many 
tears and sighs from the ill-fated passengers. In vain they 
searched throughout the vessel, hoping to discover some hidden 
provisions. Each one now regarded his neighbor with a despair- 
ing look ; sinister projects already began to foment in some minds, 
and the greatest evils were dreaded, when one of the passengers 
said to his companions: “We lament and sigh over our fate, and 
we forget Him who fed the multitude in the desert, and who daily 
feeds the birds of the air ; let us have a strong faith, let us invoke 
God through the intercession of His Blessed Mother. Let us 
implore Our Lady of the Rosary to work a miracle in our regard ; 
she will not refuse us.” With one accord all cast themselves on 
their knees, and recited the Rosary with that lively and ardent 
faith which works prodigies. Scarcely had they finished the last 
Ave Maria when a violent wind arose and drove the vessel before 
it with great speed. It lasted but a short time and then died away, 
when they beheld, with great joy and delight, land in the distance, 
which was St. Augustine, a port well known to the Portuguese. 
What must have been their feelings at beholding this miraculous 
intervention ! What joy filled the hearts of those who for three 
days had endured all the tortures of famine! Soon they were 

enabled to land at the capital of Brazil, and their first care was 

189 





to repair to the temple ofijpoa. and thank Him and our Lady of 
the Rosary for their miraculous intervention. 


Slaves Delivered Through the Rosary. 

Several years ago Prince Lucien Bonaparte, since cardinal 
of the Holy Roman Church, was preparing for the sacerdotal 
office, by practicing works of mercy in visiting the poor, the sick, 
and prisoners. The prison of St. Michael, which contains those 
who are guilty of political offences, was the one he most 
frequently visited ; and frequently did he carry consolation to those 
unfortunate men whose hearts are too often embittered by feelings 
of hate and revenge. The evening of the first of May, he presented 
a beautiful statue of our Lady, and asked as a favor to be per- 
mitted to perform with the prisoners the month of Mary. He 
assured them that the Mother of God would reward them for their 
good will, and would shorten the time of their captivity. During 
the month, the prince lectured them daily on one of the 
mysteries of the Holy Rosary. At the close of the month, on 
the eve of his departure for France, he paid them a farewell visit, 
and asked each of them how long he had yet to remain in prison. 
“I,” said a young man, “have to remain eighteen months. “I,” 
said another who had shown great signs of piety during the 


exercises, “I shall perhaps never leave it; I have yet eighteen 
years of confinement to expiate.” “Hope ! hope !” said the prince ; 
“the Madonna is good, persevere in prayer so he departed. 

Some time after this interview, a stranger presented himself 
at the hotel of Prince Lucien in Paris : he bore from the Roman 
prisoners a mosaic, a token of gratitude to the prince. It was 
the same man mentioned above that expected to be a prisoner for 
eighteen years. 

191 



faints and Religions Orders 
Have P raised t f)e RosarQ. 



E quote from the writings of an English 
Dominican : “St. Charles said, ‘I depend 
on the Rosary almost entirely for the 
conversion and sanctification of my 
|v. diocese.’ Bishops and parish priests 
J have emulated one another in promot- 
. ing the Rosary among the faithful com- 
mitted to their charge. Founders of 
Religious Orders have, almost without 


exception, either commanded or earnestly recommended the daily 
recital of the Rosary. The Benedictines, represented by men 
venerable even amidst an Order so glorious in its traditional sanc- 
tity and learning, speedily adopted this devotion in their ancient 
cloisters. The Carmelites delighted to repeat that they had 
received from the Dominican Order both their later rules and their 
Rosary ; thus uniting in a double bond the cloistered and the 
Apostolic Orders of our Lady. The Franciscans, ever ardent in 
their love for Jesus Christ, made their rough-hewn wooden chap- 
lets, and preached over the world, poverty and the Beads of their 
Immaculate Mother. Inspired by similar motives, the Servites, 
according to the testimony of one of their venerable writers, wore 
the Beads as the best badge of that servitude which is the only 
true liberty. The first Fathers of the illustrious Society of Jesus, 
taught at once by the word and example of their Founder, invari- 
ably propagated everywhere the devotion of the Rosary, and like 
St. Francis Xavier, who generally used the touch of his chaplet 



as a means of healing the sick, they would often, on approaching 
those distant lands where zeal and charity bore them, raise aloft 
their Rosary, and with it bless the strange and barbarous people, 
who were to be conquered by that love of Jesus and Mary, of 
which the Rosary must ever form the most complete expression. 
St. Philip, called by the Popes the ‘Apostle of Rome,’ ever stands 
before us, whether in history or in picture, with that chaplet seem- 
ing to belong to him as much as his miracle-working, disinterested 
and tender charity. St. Vincent de Paul, when training a young 
Order to win souls to Christ, specially instructed its members to 
depend more upon their Beads than upon their preaching, in 
missions to the people, and in retreats to priests and to students. 
Who is there, throughout this whole country, in whom devotion 
to the Rosary has not been created or increased by the disciples of 
St. Alphonsus? or by those apostolic Congregations, which, under 
the name of the Passion, etc., have won so many souls to God? 
In the religious communities of women, amidst the almost count- 
less varieties of grace and of charity, we shall find the old R.osary 
of our Lady uniting all in a bond of devotional unity.” 







TI)e People Alvaas Devoted 
to tl)e RosarQ. 


ITH the faithful, the Rosary has ever 
maintained its place. Other rosaries or 
beads have been invented, in pious imita- 
tion of those taught by our Lady. Some 
of these have been condemned ; some have 
been tolerated ; some have even been in- 
dulgenced ; but none have ever been al- 
lowed to assume the name of Rosary. 
The faithful have ever caught the spirit 
of the Church, and clung with traditional 
reverence and love to that devotion, which, coming from Heaven, 
alone presents to the mind and to the heart the sum of the Chris- 
tian life. Who does not remember in early days old-fashioned 
beads treasured amidst faithful families as memorials of times 
of danger and of persecution ? A venerable priest who lately died 
in Rome, in the odor of sanctity, declared that the faith had been 
preserved in Ireland, solely by the devotion of its faithful people 
to the Rosary. During the dark days of persecution, when there 
was not a Catholic school in the three British Isles ; when it was 
felony to teach even Catholic Catechism, and death for the Priest 
to say Mass, the Irish mothers, taking their Crucifix and beads, 
told their little ones the story of Jesus and Mary, and thus kept 
the Faith of our fathers green in the hearts of their children. The 
venerable Cure D’Ars declared emphatically that in this century 
it was the Rosary which restored religion in France ; and we know 
by the testimony of Saints, and of our Blessed Lady herself, it was 
the preaching of the Rosary which at two terrible epochs reani- 
mated and saved the faith of Southern Europe. 

194 



















) 





Mow to become a Rosarian. 

1. Have your name enrolled by a Priest authorized to receive you. If the Confra- 
ternity be not established where you reside, you may send your name to the Director 
of the Rosary Confraternity, St. Joseph’s Priory, Somerset, Ohio, and he will enroll 
it. Be sure to give the baptismal name and the family name. No abbreviations of 
baptismal names may be used. 

2. Have your beads blessed with the Dominican blessing. — To accommodate those 
who may not have an opportunity of receiving this blessing otherwise, the Director 
of the Rosary Confraternity, St. Joseph’s Priory, Somerset, Ohio, will bless all rosa- 
ries sent to him, and will return them. Postage for this must be enclosed. 

3. The fifteen decades must be said during the course of the week— from Sunday to 
Sunday. — These decades may be divided in any way found convenient, provided 
that at least one decade at a time be said. It is a pious practice of Rosarians to say 
five decades each day. 

In the usual “make up” of rosaries we find one large bead and three smaller 
beads immediately following the crucifix or cross. It is' a practice of some to recite 
on the cross or crucifix the Apostles' Creed ; on the large bead, an Our Father ; and 
on the small beads, three Hail Marys. In reality they do not belong to the Rosary. 
They are merely a custom, but are not required by the Church. The method of say- 
ing the Rosary practiced by the Dominicans is as follows : 

In the name of the Father, etc. 

V. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. 

R. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb — Jesus. 

V. Thou, O Lord, wilt open my lips. 

R. And my tongue shall announce Thy praise. 

V. Incline unto my aid, O God ; 

R. O Lord, make haste to help me. 

Glory be to the Father, etc. Alleluia. 

( From Septuagesima to Easter, instead of Alleluia, say Praise be to Thee, O Lord, 
King of eternal glory. ) 

Then announce either “ the first part of the holy Rosary, the five joyful mysteries," 
or “ the second part of the holy Rosary, the five sorrowful mysteries,” or “ the third 
part of the holy Rosary, the five glorious mysteries.” Then the first mystery, “ the 
Annunciation,” etc., and “ Our Father" once, “ Hail Mary" ten times, “ Glory 
be to the Father" once ; in the mean time meditating on the mystery. After reciting 
five decades, the Hail, holy Queen, is said, followed by 

V. Queen of the most holy Rosary, pray for us. 

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 

Let us Pray. 

O God, whose only begotten Son, by His life, death and resurrection, has pur- 
chased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech Thee, that meditating on 
these mysteries of the most holy Rosaiy of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitaie 
what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ our 
Lord. Amen. 195 


7 


fa 










Tf)e "Angelas Domini,” tf)e 
Angel of tf)e Lord. 


Who Introduced the Angelic Salutation into the 
Catholic Church ? 




OPE Urban II 


Clermont, France, in 1095, ordered that 
fyfrrJ jgyl the run S eveI 7 day in the morn- 

Eytn ing, at noon, and in the evening, and that 

obtain Mary’s protection for the crusades 

their object the rescuing of the holy 
Sepulchre from the hands of the infidels. These are now ended, 
but the life of the whole Church, of every Christian, is a crusade 
against sin and temptation. We always need Mary’s protection ; 
and therefore the custom of repeating the salutation is still 
retained in the Church. Formerly at the ringing of the Angelus, 
all the faithful fell on their knees, and even now pious Catholics 
do the same. St. Charles Borromeo, an archbishop, did not hesi- 
tate to kneel in the open street and repeat the angelic salutation. 


Of what does the “ Angelus Domini ” consist ? 

It consists of three Hail Marys : before the first is said : The 
angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived of the 
Holy Ghost ; before the second : Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; 
be it done unto me according to thy word ; before the third : and the 
word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us. 


















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Why and how often is the “ Angelus Domini ” said ? 

It is said in order to remind us of Christ’s Incarnation and 
in thanks for it ; to ask the Blessed Virgin’s maternal protection 
against all enemies visible and invisible ; to recollect at least three 
times in the day, morning, noon and evening, like David, to give 
praise to God, and take a little time expressly for prayer, for which 
purpose the bells are rung three times a day. 

How should we say the “ Angelus Domini ? ” 

With respect, that is, slowly and kneeling (except on Sat- 
urday evenings and Sundays, and during the time of Easter, when 
it is said standing) ; contritely, since Christ became man because 
of our sins ; devoutly, that is, heart and lips should be in accord. 

Salutation to Mary. 

Hail Mary, full of grace! I rejoice and congratulate thee, 
because thou wert chosen to be the Mother of the Most High and 
Queen of heaven and earth. With thee is the Father who from 
all eternity begot Him whom thou didst bear; with thee is the 
Son whom thou didst carry in thy virginal womb; with thee is 
the Holy Ghost, overshadowed by whose power thou didst become 
the Mother of God. Thou art blessed amongst women, thou art 
the joy of heaven and the ornament of the Church of God, pray 
for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen. 

197 


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Explanation of tf)e Mail I \ arn 
or tl)e (Jngelic ^Salutation. 

Why is the “ Hail Mary ” called the Angelic Salutation ? 

ECAUSE it commences with the words 
addressed to Mary by the Archangel 
Gabriel, when he brought her the mes- 
sage that she was to be the Mother of 
God. 

Of what does the Hail Mary 
consist ? 

Of the words of the Archangel 
Gabriel ; of St. Elizabeth’s salutation, when she was visited by 
Mary ; and of words added by the Catholic Church. 

What words did the Angel say to Mary ? 

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou 
amongst women! 

What is meant by these words ? 

The word Hail, that is, Salutation to thee ! Peace with thee ! 
or, Joy to thee ! expresses the reverence which the angel had for 
the Blessed Virgin, and which we should also cherish. The words : 
full of grace, remind us that God bestowed more graces upon 
the Blessed Virgin than upon all men and angels together. We 
should for this reason always pray with confidence to her to obtain for 
us, by her powerful intercession, those graces which are most neces- 
sary for our salvation. By the words : the Lord is with thee, the angel 
intended to express, that the Lord was with this maiden not only 
in His reality, presence, and omnipotence as with all men, not only 

198 • 




in His grace as with the just, but with the greatest and most extra- 
ordinary grace, love and familiarity. St. Augustine observes : 
“The angel wished to say: The Lord is with thee more than with 
me ; the Lord is with thee, so that He may be in thy heart, in thy 
body, may fill thy spirit, may fill thy flesh.” “Could God raise her 
higher!” St. Bernard here exclaims. Ah, that the Lord might 
be with us also, and Mary by her intercession obtain graces for 
us ! Finally, the words : Blessed art thou amongst women, mean : 
thou art the happiest of women, for thou of all thy sex art chosen 
to be the Mother of God, at the same time Mother and Maid. How 
much is contained in the salutation which one of the highest spirits 
surrounding the throne of God, addressed to Mary, and how much 
it behooves us to love and daily salute Mary, our most tender 
Mother ! 

What were the words used by St. Elizabeth, and what 
is their signification ? 

Elizabeth repeated the words of the angel: Blessed art thou 
amongst women, adding “and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,” 
which signified that Jesus should be glorified, because through 
Him God bestowed all spiritual and heavenly blessings upon us. 


Which are the words added by the Church ? 

They are : “Jesus,” who is the fruit of her womb, by which 
she wishes us to offer this prayer to God in the name of Christ ; 
and then she adds the invocation to Mary : Holy Mary, Mother of 
God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. 
Amen. 


What do these words mean ? 

When we say Holy Mary, we mean to express that Mary is 
God’s holy and wonderful work, Daughter of the Heavenly Father, 
Mother of the Son, and Bride of the Holy Ghost, and has all her 
sanctity, beauty, and that great veneration from the fruit of her 
womb, Jesus Christ. The glorious title of Mother of God is given 
her because Mary bore not an ordinary man, but Jesus Christ 
who is both God and Man. Therefore from her was born the 
Son of God, the incarnate God, not a man who appeared like God, 

199 


but God in flesh. She is, then, really and truly the Mother of 
God, our Lord’s Mother. The Fathers who had assembled in the 
holy Council of Chalcedon, to refute Nestorius, who sought to 
deprive Mary of the title of Mother of God, called her “Holy 
Mary, Mother of God.” Of herself Mary is not holy, and cannot 
of herself help us, therefore we say : pray for us, by which we ask 
for her powerful intercession ; and conscious of our poverty and 
sinfulness, call ourselves poor sinners, who turn to Mary, the 
Mother of mercy, because we feel ourselves too unworthy to pray 
to Christ Himself, and, therefore, entreat this loving mother to 
obtain for us amendment of life, remission of sin, consolation in 
affliction, remedy in sickness, assistance in need, increase of grace, 
preservation, perseverance, and the crown ; and may Mary pray for 
us now and at the hour of our death. Now, that is, while the 
divine mercy is given us, and especially in the hour of death, when 
the weapons for battle against the enemy fall from our hands, and 
the evil one tempts us the more violently because he knows that 
his time is short, (Apoc. xii. 12.) in that hour on which depends 
our eternal welfare or grief. By the word Amen we affirm that we 
remain true venerators of the Virgin Mother of God, and at all 
times expect grace from God through her intercession. “Yes,” 
says St. Bernard, “let us venerate Mary as sincerely, heartily, and 
confidently as we can, for such is His will who desired that we 
should have all (salvation and redemption in Christ) through 
Mary.” The Son will assuredly hear the Mother, and the Father 
the Son. Let us, then, strive to rise by her to Him who by her 
came down to us ! 

Through thee, who hast found grace with God, Mother of 
life ! Mother of salvation ! we have access to the Son, who accepts 
us from thee, who has given us by thee — to Jesus Christ, eternally 
blessed. 


200 




• • • THE — 

J? osar^ for Children 


pimple Explanations of tl)e A^sferie^ adapted to tfye 
understanding of tl)e ^ounft 


wMdttBUi 









FIRST JOYFUL MYSTERY. 


The Annunciation. 


'HEN GOD made the world everything was good and beautiful, so 
that Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, could live happily 
in it and love and obey Him. And if they did as God wished them 
to do, then they were to be rewarded by going to Heaven. Every- 
thing in the world, they could use and enjoy, except one tree. 
God told them they must not touch it. The Devil, who had been'’ 
an angel and had been put out of Heaven for not obeying God, 
tried very hard to make Adam and Eve eat the fruit of this tree, 

He did this because he wants 


and at last got them to do it. 


every- 

JgpijgW body else to be kept out of Heaven, like himself. 

When God saw Adam and Eve eat this fruit after He had told 
them not to do so He said: “They have disobeyed me and they must die and never 
go to Heaven.” And He sent an angel to drive them out of the Garden of Eden. 

Then His Son who did not wish to see them die, because He loved them, said to God: 
“ I will die for those people and that will make up for their sin. I will go down on earth 
and become a baby and grow up just like one of these people and teach them how to live 
to please Thee. Then I will die for them and that will open up Heaven for them.” 

Then for many years the angels kept searching for a maiden who was good and pure, 
to become the mother of God’s Son. Many hundreds of years passed before a maiden was 
found who had never done anything wrong, but at last one was found, and her name was 
Mary. God sent His angel to tell Mary that He had chosen her to be the mother of His 
Son. Mary was always ready to do what God wanted her to do, so she said to the angel : 
“ Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me as the Lord wishes.” 

This is the scene shown in the picture of the Annunciation. It shows the angel 
saying to Mary: ‘‘Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with th ee.” This is the first 

part of the Hail Mary that you say every^y. ^ ^ 

Among the virtues in Mary’sheart^^^rrade God love her so much was humility. 
That is, she was not protjd^v Shrtfdj^Hiot tljppk shaDwas so very good. You must try and 





be like her. Do not be proud if you have a nicer di^ess than some poorer girl. Do not be 
ashamed to be seen with another boy or girl because'he or jdje has a shabby coat on. D& 
not be' vain if you are high in/your class at school.^ Bfe modest and humble like out* 
Blessed Mother Mary and she will ask God to keep the Devil away from you. 


THE SECOND JOYFUL MYSTERY* Jk Wy. 

im " , 

The picture of the Visitation shows Mary at the home of her cousin, Elizabeth. 
When Mary was told by God’s angel that she was to be mother of His Son, she did not 
get proud, but she thanked God for being so good to her, and ran to tell her relatives the 
joyful news. After that she wanted to go and tell Elizabeth, her cousin. Her cousin 
Elizabeth lived over the mountains and there was no railroad to travel on, so Mary 
and Joseph had to walk all the way. When Elizabeth saw her coming she came 
to meet her and said : “ Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of 
thy womb.” This is the second part of the Hail Mary that you say every morning 
and night. So you see that the angel and St. Elizabeth were the first to say it. 

This story of the Blessed Virgin Mary going to see Elizabeth shows what a loving 
heart she had. She was full of joy and she wanted to share it with her cousin. Think of 
this when you say the Hail Mary and ask God to put love like that in your heart, so that 
you may be willing to do all you can for your brothers, sisters and playmates. If you 
love them and never injure them in any way, God will love you and keep harm away 
from you. 

THE THIRD JOYFUL MYSTERY. 

The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 


When God’s Son, Jesus Christ, came down from Heaven He came to show us what to ' { 













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p'ooooooooooooaooooooooooooooooi 


pooOoOO' 


opoooooooooaoooooooooooooooooooooooooodooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 


follow a new star in the sky that had never been seen before. They followed it and came 
to the stable to see Jesus. If you look at the picture of the Birth you will see the Infant 
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Kings, the Shepherds and the animals. 

Jesus was born poor to teach us that to be poor helps us to get to Heaven. It is not 
a sin to be rich, but when we are rich we think too much of ourselves and forget God. So, 
dear child, if you are poor, pray to God every day, “Give us this day our daily bread,” 
and be good. He will not let you be in need. If you have more than you really need 
think of those who have nothing and give them some of what God has given you. By 
doing this you will please Jesus who left His beautiful home in Heaven to come here and 
be poor for our sake. 


THE FOURTH JOYFUL MYSTERY. 


God makes many rules to help us think of Him and when we obey these rules we 
please Him very much. Among the rules that God made in the time before Jesus was 
born, was this one. He wanted every first born son to be given to Him, and the mother 
at the same time was to bathe her soul so that it would be clean. 

Mary’s soul had never been soiled by sin, because she had never been disobedient, 
proud, selfish or angry ; she always did what was right towards God, her parents and her 
friends. 

Even though Mary’s soul was not soiled she went to have it cleaned, because God 
wanted every one to do so. And though her son was God’s own Son, she took Him to the 
Temple to give Him to God. 

See how Mary, who never sinned, wished to obey God in all things, and Jesus, God’s 
only Son, to show us what God’s law is, obeyed Mary and Joseph. So my dear child 
never think of disobeying your father or mother or the priests of God’s Church, if you do 
you cannot go to Heaven. 


THE FIFTH JOYFUL MYSTERY. 
The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple 


Once every year the people, in the time when Jesus was on earth, had to go to the 
City of Jerusalem, to promise God to be faithful to Him and obey His laws. So when 
this time came, when Jesus was about twelve years old, Mary and Joseph took Him with 
them to Jerusalem to the Temple of God. There they saw the priests who were God’s 
servants and who were very wise and 


The Presentation in the Temple. 






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v •- 


orm, r &-/©fey, wa*^ S^To^s Son and knew everything. He was alway: 
■v^hat He could do to makou^t^^ good, and, in that way, win them back to 
God so that they could go to Heaven (vnen th|&| 4 |ll?l^ 

When the great Feast was over Mary^Sfi^^bseph started back home again. A 
'reat number of people were going their way anti in those days they always were glad to 
have a big company because there were wild beasts and robbers in the country they had 
to pass through. 

Jesus was not with Mary when she started, but as she knew that He could not do 
wrong, she thought He was with the other boys. 

When they had gone a long ways she called Him but He was not there. She and 
Joseph were very much worried and went back to Jerusalem to find Him. They found 
, / Him at last, sitting with the wise men in the Temple talking to them. Mary said to Him : 

Son, why have you done this?” and He said gently to her: ‘‘Why did you seek me? 
Didn’t you know I should be about my Father’s business? ” 

Even when He was only twelve years old He wanted to please His Father. This 
h Is to show us how we should do. Try to please Him by not talking in church, by saying 
your prayers every night and morning, and ask Him to show you what He wishes you 
to do. 

THE FIRST SORROWFUL MYSTERY. 

The Agony in the Garden. 

From the time that Jesus was found in the Temple, when twelve years old, until He 
was thirty years old He lived at Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and was obedient to 
p— Them. When He became thirty years old, He went out to preach. He went about 
preaching and doing good for three years and in all that time He had no home. He 
fj slept in the fields or in a cave or in the house of any one who offered Him a night’s lodging. 

He cured sick people; made the blind see and the dumb speak. He even brought 
dead back to life. He did this to prove that He was God’s Son, that He was the one 
had said would come and die for us that Heaven might be opened up again. 

When the end of the three years was near He knew the time had come for Him to 
lure terrible sufferings and die an awful death before He could go to His Father again. 
The picture of the first sorrowful mystery shows Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. 
He is kneeling praying to His Father. He knew what was going to happen. He saw 
even after He died for us we would sin-again, and the thought of it made Him suffer 
He broke out into a sweat of agony and -drops of blood were falling from Him to 
e ground. , - '.J ) % 


He prayed in the Garden J|\at HT'h^ightf slipups that it~is Qbd’s will that we should 
. That is whyjypu are taught to^ra^Tvrfihji yotPar e v€ry little children. When yeruT* 
anything pray to Gochjbr it-agd if it is goixHor, yo\j, yQuJ^i||'getlit. Sometimes 

y 1 206 ^ i <3 










people pray for things they should not have. These prayers are not answered. When 
you pray always ask it “for Jesus’ sake,” and always pray with attention, that is, do not 
think of anything but the fact that you are talking to God and do not insult Him by 
asking for a favor and thinking of play or something else. 


THE SECOND SORROWFUL MYSTERY. 

The Scourging at the Pillar. 

The enemies of Jesus took Him from the Garden and taking Him before a judge 
swore all kinds of lies about Him; said that He had cursed and sworn and insulted God 
by claiming to be His Son, and that He wanted to upset the government. To all this 
Jesus made no answer. The soldiers that were guarding Him hit Him and spit at Him 
and ill-used Him in every mean and cruel way. Pilate, the Judge, liked Jesus, because 
He was so gentle and wanted to let Him go free, but the people cried out “Crucify Him, 
crucify Him,” and then Pilate let them have Him to do as they wished. 

They tied Him to a pillar and whipped Him until He was one mass of wounds and 
blood. He bore it all without a murmur so that when we think of how much He suffered, 
we would love Him and never sin again. God’s Son wishes us to be very sorry for our 
sins, and when we are it helps to make up for what He suffered and He loves us. Remem- 
ber this if you feel like doing wrong; telling lies or swearing or disobeying your parents, 
that if you do you will make Jesus suffer again, and He will think you don’t care for Him 
and that you are one of His enemies just like the Jews were. 


THE THIRD SORROWFUL MYSTERY. 

Jesus is Crowned with Thorns. 

Look at the picture of Jesus being crowned with thorns. Think how cruel it was to 
press that crown of thorns down on that sore and aching head. The blood is dripping 
from the wounds the points of the thorns make. This is awful to think of, but when 
Jesus’ enemies put the thorns on His head they not only hurt Him that way, but they 
jeered at Him and made fun of His sufferings. The very people for whom He came down 
from Heaven to suffer were the people to ridicule Him. Were they not low and mean? 
And when they were doing this Jesus said nothing. Jesus who could have called on the 
angels to come and smite them all dead, bore it all without a word. He did this because 
He wished to teach us to be patient and have moral courage. You know how it angers 
you to have anyone sneer at you and ridicule you. You want to sneer back or hit them. 

207 



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THE FOURTH 


!OWFUL MYSTERY, 


The Carrying of the Cross, 


The picture of Jesus carrying the cross shows Him on the way to Calvary, where He 
was to be crucified. The Devil, who knew that He was God’s Son, saw that the gates of 
Heaven were to be opened and a great many people saved that he had hoped to take to 
hell, and it made him very angry. He urged the soldiers to insult Jesus still more, and 
when He fell tired out and weak from suffering, the devil put it in the minds of the soldiers 
to kick Him and cut Him with their spears, because the devil thought that it might 
make Jesus impatient or angry and then God would be offended at Him. But Jesus was 
very patient. When they pulled Him up roughly from the ground He did not complain, 
only toiled on again as fast as He could. 

This awful sight should teach us a lesson. If the Son of God suffered this terrible 
pain patiently, how patient we should be when we are ill. Jesus carried the cross for us. 
When we are sick that is our cross and we should try and carry it as He carried His. Be 
patient and God will never ask you to bear more than you can stand. 


THE FIFTH SORROWFUL MYSTERY, 


The Crucifixion 


When Jesus had carried His cross up the hill of Calvary, the soldiers took off His 
clothes, laid the cross on the ground and stretching Him on it, drove large nails through 
His hands and through His feet, and then lifted the cross up and fixed it in the ground. 
You can judge how this must have pained those wounded hands and feet, 
v The enemies of God wishing to hurt His feelings still more, not only crucified Him. 
Jout placed Him between two thieves. One of these thieves cursed Jesus and died in his 
sins, the other saw by the way Jesus acted, His patience and goodness that He was indeed 
God’s Son, and he said to Him: “Lord, remember me when Thdu shalt come into Thy 
kingdom,’’ and Jesus said to him: “Amen. I say to thee^/this^/lay thou shalt be with 
Me in Paradise.” Jesus hung on the cross for three hours dpd. th^ri He died and at that 
moment the gates of Heaven were opened and men who s laws could enter. . 

The truth you are to learn from this mystery is that is to say, you must 

not be selfish. Give up your playthings to yoUf^o^wfmSri^. If you can do good to 
anyone, even if it is not pleasant, do it, the it is the more God will love 









you for doing it. Every time you sacrifice your own pleasure for another you are storing 
up gold in Heaven and when you die God will make your crown out of this gold. The 
more good you do the larger and brighter will be your crown. 

THE FIRST GLORIOUS MYSTERY. 

The Resurrection. 

After Jesus died, the Blessed Virgin Mary and her friend laid His body in a nice tomb. 
While they were doing this His enemies went to Pilate, the judge, and said: “That 
deceiver told us He would die and in three days rise again. Set a guard around His tomb 
so that His friends cannot steal His body and then say that He rose from the dead.” 

Pilate did so. The soldiers rolled a great stone against the door of the cave in which 
Jesus’ body lay and sealed it with wax and guarded it. 

Mary and her friends came the third day after and brought sweet spices and fine linen 
to put on the body, as the custom was at that time. When they came to the tomb the big 
stone was rolled away and two angels all in white were there. The angels said to them : 
‘‘You seek Jesus. He is not here. He has risen. Behold the place where they laid 
Him.” When the enemies of God heard this, then they knew He was God. For no one 
had ever raised himself from the dead before. 

Jesus wants us to have faith. That is why He rose from the dead so that we would 
know that He was God and believe in Him. You must believe in Him and have faith in 
His word and then after you die you will rise in Heaven with a beautiful white robe and a 
golden crown. Jesus who never told a lie has promised us this and so it must be true. 

THE SECOND GLORIOUS MYSTERY. 

The Ascension into Heaven. 

After our dear Lord had risen from the dead He remained with his friends for forty 
days and then went to Heaven to take His seat at the right hand of God. When Mary saw 
Him after He rose from the dead and knew that He would suffer no more she was very, 
very happy. She knew He was going up to Heaven, but she was so unselfish that this did 
not make her sad, because she knew that He was better off up there than down here. 
She hoped to join Him there very soon. This is the lesson we are to learn from the 
Ascension into Heaven. Hope. All our lives here are spent in fighting sin. It is very 
hard to do right all the time, and sometimes we feel like doing things that we are told are 
sins and yet we do not see why. In such cases just pray to Jesus to guide you. Hope 
in Him. He has promised to help us if we but ask Him. Ask His Blessed Mother to 

209 







/ 






help you. Ask St. Joseph who guarded and watched over Jesus when He was a child. 
Ask him to pray to Jesus for you that you may hope for a happy death, when you will 
also ascend into Heaven. 

THE THIRD GLORIOUS MYSTERY. 

The Descent of the Holy Ghost. 

After Jesus had gone to Heaven, His apostles had only the promise He gave them to 
comfort them and save their hearts from breaking. He had told them to wait and He 
would send the Holy Ghost, the spirit of truth, to teach them all things. So they stayed 
in the upper room of a house they had rented and prayed and hoped and waited. Another 
great feast day at Jerusalem came, and people were there from all over the world, wearing 
different kinds of clothes and speaking different languages, and as the apostles walked 
along the streets and heard all these different languages they got very timid, because you 
know they were only poor fishermen and clerks, and they did not know how they were 
going to preach to all these different kinds of people. 

All at once, when they were together one day, there was a great noise as if a strong 
■wind were rushing into the house and they saw tongues of fire come and sit on the heads 
of every one, and they were filled with the Spirit of God and began to speak with great 
wisdom and in every language. Then they went out to preach and save souls. 

When you are confirmed you receive this same spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, and 
when you receive it, God wants you to save souls. How? By praying in Jesus’ name 
for them, and by being good yourself. To give good example is the best way to serve 
God. Always be good, and when others see you, God will put it in their hearts to want 
to be good too. 

THE FOURTH GLORIOUS MYSTERY. 

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. 

About twelve years after Jesus died Mary was called to join Him in Heaven. The 
Heavens opened and choirs of angels came down and took her in their arms, carried her 
up, and at Heaven’s gate Jesus received her. And then she received the glory she had 
earned by being humble, patient and good on earth. When Jesus was dying on the 
cross He said to Mary and St. John: “Mother, behold thy son; son, behold thy 
mother.” This means that she is the mother of all. Jesus gave her to us to love and 
guide us. 

The best way to please Jesus is to do as His mother did, act like she acted. Pray 
to her and ask her to obtain from her Son for us the grace to be good. Mary has never 
been known to refuse to obtain for us any favor that we ought to have. Sometimes we 



ild not have, then God refuses to give th«fTCoecauso3Se 
ve practice the virtues Mary practiced and love Jesus as sh< 


knows 


THE FIFTH GLORIOUS MYSTERY. 


The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven. 


While Mary was on earth she never wished for anything but what God thought 
gL ) she should have. During the sixty years she lived on earth she had known what it was 
Fyjj to be hungry, cold and homeless. She had suffered sorrow and pain. She had seen 
her only Son tortured to death. During all this time the devil had tried to tempt her, 
y but she trusted in Jesus and He always helped her. Then she died and obtained her 
reward. She was carried to Heaven by angels, so that her body, which was so pure, 
dwould not moulder in the grave, then God’s Son led her to a throne of glory at His right 


hand and she was crowned with glory as queen of the angels. Just think how near 
Mary is to Jesus in Heaven: Sitting at His right hand. She is our friend there. She 
loves and pities us, and is always ready to take our part. 

Mary persevered on earth until the last moment of her life. She never got tired 
doing good. She never gave up. Try and be like her. Ask God every day for the 
grace you need for that day. God only gives it to us day by day as we ask Him. To- 
morrow He will give you grace for to-morrow’s needs. So not only to-day but to-morrow 
and every day of your life, ask God for grace to keep on being good, and if you should 
let the devil get the best of you and tempt you into sin, go to confession. Be sorry from 
your heart, promise God, with the help of His grace, that you will sin no more and He 
will help you keep your promise, and in the end when you are preparing to leave this 
world with its cares and sorrows, this vale of tears in which there is no perfect happiness, 
then the Blessed Mother,. in whose service you have spent your life, will come to you and 
make your death a happy one. This is the greatest gift she can obtain for us. To be at 
peace with God when we die. She will conduct you, surrounded by angels, to the throne 
of her Son, and say to Him: “Son, this is one of my faithful children.” Then Jesu^ 1 
will crown you with the golden jewels of your good deeds that have been stored in 
Heaven for you and you will enjoy God’s presence forever and forever. 


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Encyclical Letter 

Of our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII. on the Efficacy and Power of the Rosary 
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and on the Propagation of this Devotion. 


LEO, BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE, POPE, 

To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops, of the Catholic World, in the Grace and 
Communion of the Apostolic See. 

Venerable Brethren, Health and Apostolic Benediction. 

In virtue of the Supreme Apostolic office which we discharge, and considering the 
great difficulties of the present time, we are warned and well-nigh compelled to provide 
for the safety and defence of Holy Church all the more earnestly according as the calami- 
ties which surround her are more grievous. While, therefore, we endeavor to preserve 
the rights of the Church, and to obviate present and contingent dangers, we constantly 
seek for the help of Heaven — the sole means of effecting anything — that our care and 
labor may attain the end they seek. We deem it certain that there can be no surer and 
more effectual means to this end than by religion and piety to obtain the favor of the 
glorious and great Mother of God, the guardian of our peace and the administratrix of 
heavenly grace. For she is placed on the summit of power and glory in Heaven to bestow 
the help of her patronage on men who, through many labors and dangers, strive to reach 
that eternal abode. Now, therefore, that the anniversary of manifold and exceedingly 
great favors obtained by a Christian people through the devotion of the Holy Rosary is 
at hand, we desire that the same devotion be offered by the whole Catholic world with 
the greatest earnestness to the Blessed Virgin, that by her intercession her divine Son 
be moved in our favor and appeased in the evils now pressing upon us. And, therefore, 
we have determined, venerable brethren, to dispatch to you these letters, that, informed 
of our design, your authority and zeal may excite your people to bring it to a happy issue. 

It has always been the custom with Catholics in times of danger and trouble to fly 
for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness — showing that the 
Church has ever most justly put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly 
the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God, and thereby associated with 
Him in the work of man’s salvation, has a favor and a power with her Son greater than 
any human or angelic creature has ever obtained or ever can obtain. And, as it is her 


212 








greatest pleasure to assist and comfort those who seek her, it cannot be doubted that she 
will deign and even be anxious to receive the aspirations of the universal Church. 

This devotion to the august Queen of Heaven, so great and so hope-inspiring, has 
never appeared in such brilliancy as when the Church militant seemed to be imperilled 
by the violence of heresy in its widening progress, or by intolerable corruption of morals, 
or by the attacks of powerful enemies. Ancient and modern history, as well as the more 
sacred records of the Church, bear witness to the fact that public and private supplications 
have been addressed to the Mother of God, and mention also the help she imparted in 
return; they proclaim in like manner the peace and tranquillity she so often obtained 
from God. Hence the illustrious titles of “Help of Christians,” “Consoler,” “Mighty in 
War,” “Victorious,” and “Peace-Giver,” accorded to her in Christian annals. And 
principally among these may be counted that solemn title drawn from the Rosary, by 
which its signal benefits to the entire Christian world have been consecrated forever. 
No one among you, venerable brethren, is ignorant of the great calamities the 
Church of God suffered from the attacks of the Albigensian heretics, offspring of the later 
sects of Manicheans; who, towards the close of the twelfth century, filled southern France, 
and other regions of the Latin race, with their pestiferous errors. Through the terror of 
their arms they sought to found their domination by slaughter and ruin. Our merciful 
God, as you know, raised up against these direful enemies of His kingdom on earth a 
most holy man, the illustrious parent and founder of the Dominican Order. Great in 
the integrity of his doctrine, in his example of virtue, and by his apostolic labors, he 
proceeded undauntedly to attack the enemies of the Catholic Church, not by the force of 
arms, but trusting wholly to that devotion which he was the first to institute under the 
name of the Holy Rosary, which was disseminated through the length and breadth of the 
earth by him and his followers. Guided, in fact, by divine inspiration and grace, he 
foresaw that this devotion, like a most powerful warlike weapon, would be the means of 
putting the enemy to flight, and of confounding their audacity and mad impiety. Such 
was, indeed, its result. Thanks to this new method of prayer — when adopted and 
properly carried out as instituted by the holy father, St. Dominic — piety, faith and 
union began to return, and the projects and devices of the heretics to fall to pieces. 
Many wanderers also returned to the way of salvation, and the wrath of the impious 
was restrained by the arms of those Catholics who had determined to repel their violence. 

The efficacy and power of this devotion was also wondrously exhibited in the 
sixteenth century, when the vast forces of the Turks threatened to impose on nearly 
the whole of Europe the yoke of superstition and barbarism. At that time the Supreme 
Pontiff, St. Pius V., after arousing the sentiments of a common defence among all the 
Christian princes, strove, above all, with the greatest zeal, to obtain for Christendom 
the favor of the Most powerful Mother of God. So noble an example offered to Heaven 
and earth in those times rallied around him all the minds and hearts of the age. And 
thus Christ’s faithful warriors, prepared to sacrifice their life and blood for the salvation 
of their faith and their country, proceeded undauntedly to meet their foe near the Gulf 



213 






of Corinth;* while those who were unable to take part formed a pious band of supplicants, 
who called on Mary, and unitedly saluted her again and again in the words of the Rosary, 
imploring her to grant the victory to their companions engaged in battle. Our Sovereign 
Lady did grant her aid; for in the naval battle by the Echinades Islands, the Christian 
fleet gained a magnificent victory with no great loss to itself, in which the enemy were 
routed with great slaughter. And it was to preserve the memory of this great boon 
thus granted that the same Most Holy Pontiff desired that a feast in honor of Our Lady 
of Victories should celebrate the anniversary of so memorable a struggle, the feast which 
Gregory XIII. dedicated under the title of “The Holy Rosary.” Similarly important 
successes were in the last century gained over the Turks at Temes, in Pannonia, and 
at Corfu; and, in both cases, these engagements coincided with feasts of the Blessed 
Virgin, and with the- conclusion of public devotions of the Rosary. And this led ou- 
predecessor, Clement XI., in his gratitude to decree that the Blessed Mother of God 
should every year be especially honored in her Rosary by the whole Church. 

Since, therefore, it is clearly evident that this form of prayer is particularly pleasin' 
-to the Blessed Virgin, and that it is especially suitable as a means of defence for the 
.church, and all Christians, it is in no way wonderful that several others of our prede 
[cessors have made it their aim to favor and increase its spread by their high recommenda^ 
ions. Thus Urban IV. testified that “every day the Rosary obtained fresh benefits 
'Christianity.” Sixtus IV. declared that this method of prayer “redounded to the honor 
of God and the Blessed Virgin, and was well suited to obviate impending dangers;” 
Leo X., that “it was instituted to oppose pernicious heresiarchs and heresies;” while 
Julius III. called it “the glory of the Church.” So also St. Pius V., that “with the 
spread of this devotion the meditations of the faithful have begun to be more inflamed, 
their prayers more fervent, and they have suddenly become different men ; the darkness 
of heresy has been dissipated, and the light of Catholic faith has broken forth again.” 
Lastly, Gregory XIII. in his turn pronounced that the Rosary had been instituted by 
St. Dominic to appease the anger of God and to implore the intercession of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary. 

Moved by these thoughts, and by the examples of our predecessors, we have deemed 
it most opportune, for similar reasons, to institute solemn prayers and to endeavor, by 
adopting those addressed, to the Blessed Virgin in the recital of the Rosary, to obtain 
from her Son, Jesus Christ, a similar aid against present dangers. You have before your 
eyes, venerable brethren, the trials to which the Church is daily exposed; Christian piety, 
public morality, nay, even faith itself, the supreme good and beginning of all the other 
virtues, are daily menaced with the greatest perils. 

Nor are you only spectators of the difficulty of the situation, but your charity, like 
ours, is keenly wounded; for it is one of the most painful and grievous sights to see SO' 
many souls, redeemed by the blood of Christ, snatched from salvation by the whirlwind 
of an age of error, precipitated into the abyss of eternal death. Our need of divine help 



* Sometimes called Lepanto. 


214 







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is as great to-day as when St. Dominic introduced the use of the Rosary of Mary as a 
balm for the wounds of his contemporaries. 

That great saint indeed, divinely enlightened, perceived that no remedy would be 
better adapted to the evils of his time than that men should return to Christ, who “is the 
Way, the Truth, and the Life,’’ by frequent meditation on the salvation obtained for us 
by Him, and should seek the intercession with God of that Virgin to whom it is given to 
destroy all heresies. He, therefore, so composed the Rosary as to recall the mysteries of 
our salvation in succession, and the subject of meditation is mingled and, as it were, 
interlaced, with the angelic salutation and with the prayer addressed to God, the Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We who seek a remedy for similar evils do not doubt, therefore, 
that the prayer introduced by that most blessed man, with so much advantage to the 
Catholic world, will have the greatest effect in removing the calamities of our times also. 
Not only do we earnestly exhort all Christians ’to give themselves to the recital of the 
pious devotion of the Rosary publicly or privately in their own houses and families, and 
that unceasingly, but we also desire that the whole month of October in this year should 
be consecrated to the Holy Queen of the Rosary. * * * We highly approve of the 

confraternities of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin going in procession, following 
the ancient custom, through the town as a public demonstration of their devotion. And 
in those places where this is not possible, let it be replaced by more assiduous visits to the 
churches, and let the fervor of piety display itself by a still greater diligence in the exercise 
of the Christian virtues. * * * We believe it to be part of the designs of Providence 

that, in these times of trial for the Church, that ancient devotion to the august Virgin 
should live and flourish amid the greatest part of the Christian world. May now the 
Christian nations, * * * seek the protection of Mary with an ardor growing greater 

day by day; let them cling more and more to the practice of the Rosary, to that devotion 
which our ancestors were in the habit of practicing, not only as an ever-ready remedy for 
their misfortunes, but as a badge of Christian piety. The heavenly patroness of the 
human race will receive with joy these prayers and supplications, and will easily obtain 
that the good shall grow in virtue, and that the erring shall return to salvation and repent ; 
and that God, who is the avenger of crime, moved to mercy and pity, may deliver Christ- 
endom and civil society from all dangers and restore to them peace, so much desired. 


Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, the ist of September, 1883, in the sixth year of our 
pontificate. 

Leo PP., XIII. 

The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII., has issued other Encyclicals and Decrees in favor 
of the Rosary. The following list comprises the principal of these documents : 

On the 20th November of the same year, the Holy Father addressed Letters Apostolic 
to the Father General of the Dominican Order, praising the effect of his Encyclical Letter 



on the Rosary devotions during October, and declaring that the petition of the title, 
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us, being inserted in the Litany, should be con- 
sidered. 

On the ioth December, a Decree was issued, ordering the insertion of the above- 
named title in the Litany of Loreto. 

On the 24th December, a Brief was published, carrying out the same order, and 
expressing the desire of His Holiness that the Rosary should be recited daily in cathedral 
churches throughout the world, and in parish churches on all Sundays and Feast days. 

On the 30th August, 1884, the Holy Father issued an Encyclical Superiore anno, in 
which, after expressing his great joy at the celebration of the preceding Rosary Month, he 
commanded the same for the ensuing month of October. 

In the year 1885, the Holy Father established the Rosary Month, to be continued 
until the peace and liberty of the Church be restored. 

On the nth September, 1887, the Festival of the Most Holy Rosary was raised to a 
double of the second class. 

On the 5th August, 1888, a proper office was assigned for Rosary Sunday. 

Among the numerous praises of the Rosary, scattered through these Pontifical 
documents, the following may be quoted : 

“We desire nothing more ardently than that the fervor of the faithful in performing 
the devotion of the Rosary should not languish, but should remain firm and perfect, the 
Holy Father desiring to increase the devotion towards the Mother of God, especially by 
this form of prayer most pleasing to her. 

“Amongst the various forms of prayer used in the Church, piously and profitably, 
the Rosary has many titles of praise — especially this, that it was instituted to implore 
the help of the Mother of God against the enemies of the Faith ; and, as all know, it has 
frequently helped the Church in trial. Not only, therefore, is it proper for private 
prayer, but also for public occasions, that this kind of prayer should be restored to the 
honor it long held, when every Christian family marked each day with its recital. Hence 
we exhort and beseech all to say the Rosary every day with constancy. 

“Care must be taken that in these sad times for the Church the holy custom of saying 
the Rosary be carefully observed, especially as this form of prayer is excellently suited to 
nourish the spirit of devotion. 

“For these reasons we exhort and beseech all to persist religiously and constantly in 
the daily use of the Rosary ; and We declare it to be Our desire that in the principal church 
of each diocese it should be recited daily, and that in all parish churches it should be said 
on all festivals. And in stimulating and maintaining this pious exercise, the Religious 
Orders, and specially (by a kind of right) the Dominicans, can be of great service; and we 
feel sure that they will not be wanting in the fulfillment of so beneficial and honorable a 
duty. 

“To the honor, therefore, of Mary, the great Mother of God, for a perpetual remem- 

216 




brance of Her patronage implored by all nations, throughout the month of October to 
her most Pure Heart; as lasting witness of the unbounded hope which we repose in our 
most loving Mother, and to obtain day by day more and more Her favorable aid, We 
ordain and decree that in the Litany of Loreto, after the invocation Regina sine labe 
originali concepta, there should be added the title Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii, ora pro 
nobis. 

“We will, moreover, that these Our Letters shall remain of force in the future as at 
this present time ; and We declare null and void whatever may be attempted against their 
effect; all things whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding. 

“Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the Ring of the Fisherman, on the XXIVth 
day of December, MDCCCLXXXIII, the sixth year of our Pontificate. 

“POPE LEO XIII.” 



From the Decree of 1888 . 

“Wherefore, in thanksgiving for benefits received, and in more earnest prayer for 
future favors, the Most Holy Father commands, and emphatically repeats, all that he has 
laid down in Encyclicals in former years, and in Decrees of the sacred Congregation of 
Rites (August 20, 1885 ; August 26, 1886; September 11, 1887), with regard to the recita- 
tion of the Holy Rosary, particularly in the month of October. And having in times past 
made many efforts towards the increase of liturgical devotion to the Blessed Virgin, under 
the invocation of the Rosary, wishing to make another addition to this object, he has 
instituted for the feast of the Solemnity of the Rosary, on the first Sunday of October, a 
Proper Office and. Mass, to be recited in future by the clergy, regular and secular, according 
to the rules, which by his approval and design he has ordered to be issued on this day by 
the Sacred Congregation of Rites. 

“August 5, Feast of Our Lady ad nives, 1888. 

“A. Cardinal Bianche, S. R. C., Prefect. 

“Lawrence Salviati, S. R. C., Secretary.” 

Encyclicals in favor of the Rosary were also issued by Leo XIII. in 1891, 1892, 1893, 
1895, and 1896, all manifesting the ardent desire of the Holy Father to see the Rosary 
practised and elevated. 

Other Popes Praised the Rosary. 



We here give a few selections from the many words of praise uttered by preceding 
Popes in honor of the Rosary. Without exception the Sovereign Pontiffs have shown 
their love for the Beads, enriching the devotion with many proofs of their fostering care. 
Pope Urban calls the Rosary “ the propagator of Christianity.” And truly the preaching 
of the Rosary spreads the Kingdom of Christ, by spreading the knowledge and love of 






217 


Jesus and Mary. We have proof of this in the flourishing Christianity of Tonquin, and of 
those parts of China, America, and of the West Indies, where the Rosary, preached by the 
“White Fathers,” as the natives called the sons of St. Dominic, converted so great a 
number of idolators, and kept them constant in the faith. 

Pope Clement VIII. calls the Rosary, “the protection and security of the faithful,” 
and alludes to the victories which have been obtained, and the miracles which have been 
wrought, through the Holy Rosary. Indeed, successive ages have united in a grand 
chorus to testify how the Rosary has been instrumental in delivering devout Rosarians 
from many terrible dangers ; in banishing evils from body and from soul ; in healing the 
sick, and in raising the dead; as the Holy Virgin revealed to the blessed Alan, “immense 
volumes would have to be written, if all the miracles of my Holy Rosary were to be 
recorded.” 

Pope Gregory XIII. calls the Rosary, “ the appeaser of the anger of God, the rainbow 
of peace, uniting angered Heaven with guilty earth,” and speaks of the hands armed with 
that holy sign of the Rosary, as “ shielded by heavenly armor.” 

Pope Gregory XIV. calls the Holy Rosary, “the destroyer of sin.” How often has 
the soul, abandoned to sin, been, by the recital of this prayer, saved from the abyss of 
vice; and when sincere lovers of souls seek the conversion of others, to what remedy do 
they apply so constantly, and so efficaciously, as to the recital of the Holy Rosary? 

Pope Paul V. describes the Rosary as the “Treasury of all graces ; ” in it “sinners find 
life, the just find it more abundantly;” the contemplation of the sacred mysteries of our 
Saviour’s life inflames the heart with love of God, and raises it easily to the exercise of the 
sublimest virtues. Devotion to the Rosary is a pledge of perseverance in good, of a 
happy death, and of a blessed predestination. 

Pope Julius III. proclaims the Holy Rosary to be “ a most illustrious ornament of the 
Roman Church, offering to us, with a sublime reality, those precious and mysterious stones 
named in Holy Writ, as decorating the vestments of the Spouse of Christ.” 

Nor can we be surprised at such commendations, when we consider how powerful the 
heart is affected by frequent meditation on the Incarnation, the Childhood, the Passion, 
and the Risen Glory of our Lord; how great must be the benefit to the soul, when such 
practical meditations are offered up under the invocation of our Queen and our Mother, 
and joined with the recital of prayers so precious as the Our Father and the Hail Mary. 


218 





5t Dominic 


Founder of the Order of Preachers, 


From Mother Francis Raphael Drane's u History of St. Dominic.” 


I. — Childhood and Youth, 


the saints are entitled to the love and veneration of the faithful 
as the servants and special friends of God; but there are some 
amongst them who have a special claim on our more familiar 
affection and gratitude, because of the works they left behind them, 
whereby they seem still to live in the midst of us and to help us. 
Among these St. Dominic holds a prominent place as the Fathe/ 
and Founder of an Order, which, for well nigh seven hundred years,' 
has carried on his labors for souls in every part of the world, and 
yet more as the channel through which our Lady has been pleased 


its ancestry and for its alliances with the noblest houses of Spain, and yet more glorious 
in the sight of God and His Church for the sanctity of its members. Don Felix de 
Guzman, the father of our Saint, ruled over a household so remarkable for its piety and 
good order, that it rather resembled that of a monastery than of a knightly castle. 
Dona Joanna of Aza, the mother of St. Dominic, has been raised to the Altars of the 
Church ; and the same honor of solemn beatification has been also granted to his second 
brother, Mannes, who eventually joined the Dominican Order. His eldest brother, 
Antonio, became a secular priest, distributed his patrimony to the poor, and spent his 
days in humbly ministering to the sick in a hospital. 

The saint whose story we have undertaken to tell was the third son of this privileged 
family. He received in baptism the name of Dominic, in consequence of the devotion 
borne by his mother to St. Dominic of Silos, whose shrine was in the immediate vicinity 
of Calaroga. This holy Abbot had appeared to her so me months before the birth of the 
child, and had promised her that she showd J3£cerrle'the mother mite, son who should be 
the light of the Church and the tpprOf 3 ^^reTibsc She had, likewise, beheld the infant 
in a dream or vision und^F>tli^nfflfre of aJ^rack end white dog, holding in his mouth a 




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II. — The Sub-Prior of Osma, 


When Dominic’s ten years’ course of studies at Palencia had come to a close, he 
was invited to join a newly-formed community of Canons Regular, living under the rule 
of St. Augustine, at Osma. The influence of his character was so soon felt and appre- 
ciated by his brethren, that, though the youngest among them, he was elected Sub-prior, 
an office which included the duties of Archdeacon. In this position he applied himself 
earnestly to acquire the virtues proper to his state, that he might himself follow the way 
of perfection he was required to teach others. In humility of heart he esteemed all his 
companions better than himself, and lavished on them every mark of veneration and 
respect, showing himself ever ready to take the lowest place. It was his custom to 
spend the night in prayer, his one constant petition to God being for the gift of a true 
charity; for he was persuaded that he could not be really a member of Christ, unless 
he consecrated himself wholly to the work of gaining souls, after the pattern of Him who 
sacrificed Himself without reserve for our redemption. His fervent prayers were accom- 
panied by practices of penance so severe that they had to be moderated by his superiors. 


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Labors Among the Albigenses. 


It is impossible in this brief biography to give any detailed account of the sect which 
at the opening of the thirteenth century was sapping the very foundation of Christianity 
in the south of France and the north of Italy. Suffice it to say that its hideous blas- 
phemous doctrines were the complete and radical negation of all Christian dogma; that 
its condemnation of the institution of marriage struck at the root of all social morality; 
and that its theoretic contempt of authority issued in the practice of a lawlessness which 
made its existence no less dangerous to the State than it was hostile to the Church. So 
early as A. D. 1178, the Kings of France and England had offered to proceed in person 
to drive out the heretics from the infected provinces; but, before unsheathing the 
temporal sword, it was agreed, at the earnest request of the Pope, Alexander III., to 
try the effect of gentler measures; and Papal Legates were appointed to bring about, 
if possible, the return of the population to the bosom of the Church. Unhappily, the 
Albigenses had found the way prepared for them by the grievous decay of manners long 
prevalent in those provinces, which became the principal seat of the heresy. The 
majority of the nobility had openly embraced the Albigensian error; and (alas! that it 
should have been so) the reigning vices of effeminacy and sloth had invaded the ranks 
of the clergy and even of the episcopate. Hence the Papal Envoys found themselves 
baffled on all sides; and so disheartened had they become, that, when in A. D. 1206, 
they met in conference at Montpellier, it was unanimously decided to petition the 
Sovereign Pontiff for relief from labors which had proved thus painful and fruitless. 
Such was the aspect of affairs when the two Spanish pilgrims arrived and were invited 
take part in the deliberations of the assembled prelates. The quick eye of Diego 
on detected that one cause of the want of success of the Legates lay in the pomp and 
rcumstance with which they were surrounded. “ It is not thus,” he said, “ my brethren, 
at you must act. The heretics seduce simple souls by the pretence of poverty and 
mortification ; by presenting the contrary spectacle you will scarcely edify them. Oppose 
eir feigned sanctity by true religion ;_nothing but humility will ever triumph over 
a^ehood.” Then he commandeddbi^ ownfollQwers-'to return to Spain with all his 
vequipage, and, retaining-Dominic as^p^ sole cqm^anion, he'kieclared his intention of 
'.remaining in the county and devoting. JffihseJf to the preaching of the Gospel. The 
ates instantly /piloted bis example and place'ct^hemselves under hjs leadership ; 
Pope, on learning what had pa’sSedy authorized him to retnain two years in the 
.ch proyinds. ..^Retaining only_th£ books necessary fon^tke?^Viite Office and for 








controversy, and trusting to God’s Providence alone for the supply of their daily wants, 
the Legates now began to travel about the country on foot, stopping at different places 
to hold disputations with the heretics ; and the effect of this new way of proceeding was 
soon evident in the success that attended their labors. 

Though Dominic’s part at this time was necessarily a subordinate one, yet his power 
and value in disputing with the heretics were proved by the bitter hatred they conceived 
against him. Whilst his days were spent in public disputations, his nights were consumed 
in interviews with those who secretly sought his counsel, or more frequently in those 
prayers and tears and strong intercessions with God for the souls of the people which 
were more powerful arms in fighting the battles of the Lord than were even the wisdom 
and eloquence of his words. Nor were miracles wanting to confirm the truth of his 
preaching. On occasion of a public conference held at Fanjeaux, it was agreed that 
the Catholics and the heretics should alike commit to writing the chief arguments in 
support of their respective creeds, and that the writing of both should be subjected to 
the ordeal of fire. The writings of the heretics were first cast into the flames, and were 
entirely consumed in an instant. Then the book containing Brother Dominic’s defence 
of the Catholic doctrine was in like manner thrown into the fire; and, immediately on 
touching the burning logs, it was tossed out to a considerable distance. A second and 
a third time it was thrown in, and each time sprang out as before, thus testifying to the 
truth of the orthodox faith and to the sanctity of the writer. A similar prodigy is said 
to have taken place a short time previously at Montreal. 

IV. — Foundation of Prouile. 

It was not long before Dominic became aware of the special danger to which the 
daughters of Catholics were exposed through the artifices of the Albigenses and the 
culpable indifference of their own parents. Many of the Catholic gentry, reduced to 
ruin by the spoliation of their lands, did not hesitate for the bribe of a promised dowry 
to deliver their daughters into the hands of the sectaries, to be by them nurtured in 
heresy. The plan suggested itself to the Saint of founding a monastery which might 
serve as a refuge for young girls in danger of this kind of perversion, and where women 
reclaimed from heresy might be admitted and fully instructed in the Faith. A sign from 
heaven pointed out the chapel of our Lady at Prouille, near Fanjeaux, as the site of the 
foundation; and by the liberal alms of the Bishop of Toulouse the necessary buildings 
were speedily erected, and a sufficient endowment secured. 

A community was soon formed, the first nine members of which had been converted 
from heresy by the Saint himself in a miraculous manner. They took possession of their 
new abode on November 22, A. D. 1206. Dominic drew up a rule for them and watched 
over their spiritual and temporal interests with fatherly tenderness ; and thus were laid 
the foundations of that enclosed Order of religious women, whose high and holy office 

223 





&nces, and who are 
;heir establishment 


theijyefayefs ar 
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^TPpminiJB, altft' 

leye'ral years. 


^arcassonne, where he was 
Contempt by throwing dirt 
lis garments, and pursuing 


it is to co-operate in the salvation of souls by the 
commonly known as the Second Order,-, of 
preceded that of the Friars or First Order, b 


V.— ThtFl Rose of Patience. 


In the July of A. D. 1207, Don Diego went back to Spain to put in order the affairs 
of his diocese and to collect money for the support of the missioners and of the monastery 
of Prouille, with the intention of returning as soon as possible to his labors in Languedoc. 
But before many months had elapsed he had passed to a better life; the Cistercian 
Abbots who had shared his labors had been recalled to their convents ; one of the Legates 
had died a natural death; another, Peter de Castlenau, had suffered martyrdom at the 
hands of the heretics; and Dominic found himself left to sustain the conflict for the 
Faith almost single-handed. 

The murder of Peter de Castlenau rendered all further compromise with the heretics 
impossible; and Pope Innocent III., one of the greatest Pontiffs who ever filled the 
Chair of Peter, at length reluctantly consented to an appeal to arms. It is not our 
intention to give any account of the Crusade which was now organized against the 
Albigenses; for, though St. Dominic was sometimes engaged in restoring Catholic 
worship in the town captured by the Crusaders, and was on terms of affectionate friend 
ship with their noble chief, Simon de Montfort, father of that Earl of Leicester of the 
same name so famous in English history, yet he had little or no connection with any 
of the incidents of the war. Whilst swords were clashing and blood was flowing, the 
Saint, alone or attended by a single companion, was traveling over every part of the 
country barefoot, preaching the Faith and seeking the sheep that were lost. The 
sweetness of his exterior and the tenderness of his all-embracing sympathy at once won 
the love of everyone who looked upon him ; whilst those who had been seduced by the 
pretended austerity of the heretics were not slow to discover that the rigor of his vigils, 
fasts and penances, far exceeded anything they had ever witnessed in their false teachers, 
n after years the Saint was wont to exhort his brethren to this, as the best method of 
reaching, reminding them that it was by good works and by the outward habit, even 
more than by holy words, that we must let our light shine before men to the glory of 
God. A certain cleric, listening to his admirable preaching apd' the wonderful power 
with which he explained the Holy Scriptures, asked him in?$m^t book he had studied 


to find matter so sublime. “My son,” replied the Saint,, 
book of charity; it is there that we learn all things. ” v 
His headquarters at this time appear to 
followed by scoffing bands who would show tj, 
on him, spitting in his face, tying straws 









ter 



him with shouts of derisive laughter. But he would pass through the midst of them 
with a tranquil and joyous aspect, giving thanks to God that he should be counted 
worthy to suffer affronts for the name of Christ. “Why do you not live at Toulouse, 
rather than at Carcassonne?” he was one day asked. “I know many people at Tou- 
louse," was the reply, “and they show me respect; but at Carcassonne every one is 
against me.” 

The heretics often threatened him with death. “I am not worthy of martyrdom,” 
was his only answer. One day he was warned that a party of heretics were lying in 
ambush in a certain place to assassinate him. He treated the information with his 
usual indifference and passed by the place, singing hymns, with a joyful aspect. When 
asked by his enemies what he would have done if he had fallen into their hands : “I would 
have prayed you,” he said, “not to have taken my life at a single blow, but little by 
little, cutting off each member of my body, one by one; and, when you had done that, 
you should have plucked out my eyes, and then have left me so, to prolong my torments 
and gain me a richer crown.” This reply so confounded his enemies, that for some time 
afterwards they left him unmolested, being convinced that to persecute such a man was 
to give him the only consolation he desired. 

Nor was he wanting in that love “than which no man hath greater, that a man 
should lay down his life for his friends,” for once again, as formerly at Palencia, he 
offered to sell himself, and with the price to relieve the needs of a poor heretic, who was 
convinced of the Church’s teachings, but was deterred from returning to her bosom 
because of the temporal losses which would have been the result of the step. The Saint 
would actually have carried out his heroic proposal, had not Providence supplied the 
requisite means in another way. 

Dominic did not confine his ministrations to those of mature age ; he loved to instruct 
in the Faith the children of the peasantry, teaching them how to make the Sign of the 
Cross, and to recite the Lord’s Prayer, the Angelic Salutation and the Creed; and 
exhorting them to obey their parents and show respect to all men. 

A remarkable miracle belonging to this period of the Saint’s life must not be omitted. 
One day, when he was praying in a church on the banks of the river Garonne, and not 
far from the camp of the Crusaders, a boat, containing some forty English pilgrims on 
their way tor the shrine of St. James of Compostella, chanced to be upset in mid-stream. 
The cries of the drowning men and of the soldiers who saw their danger roused Dominic 
from his devotions; but, when he reached the bank, not one of the pilgrims was to be 
seen. Prostrating with his arms extended in the form of a cross, he besought the 
Almighty to save His own pilgrims from death. Then, rising, he commanded them 
to come to the shore alive and unhurt. Instantly the bodies rose to the surface, and, 
with the help of the soldiers, all safely reached the bank, praising God and His servant 
Dominic. Amongst the pilgrims thus rescued was an Englishman Dy the name of 
Laurence, who from that time joined himself to the Saint and became one of the first 
brethren of his Order. 






VI. — The Holy Rosary. 

According to universal Catholic tradition, it was through the hands of St. Dominic 
that the Blessed Virgin delivered to her children the precious devotion of the Holy 
Rosary, though the exact details of the place, time and circumstance have unfortunately 
not been preserved. The chapel of our Lady at Prouille has, perhaps, the strongest claim 
to be regarded as the scene of the revelation; and the form in which it has come down 
to us will be best stated in the words of Father Cornelius de Snecka, a holy Dominican 
of the fifteenth century: “We read, that, at the time when St. Dominic was preaching 
to the Albigenses, he at first obtained but scanty success; and that one day, complaining 
of this in pious prayer to our Blessed Lady, she deigned to reply to him: “Wonder not 
that until now you have obtained so little fruit by your labors; you have spent them 
on a barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine grace. When God willed to 
renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the 
Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter, composed of one hundred and fifty 
Angelic Salutations and fifteen Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest.’ 
The servant of God in consequence, began to preach this devotion and make it known 
to the people, and from that time he won an immense harvest of souls.” 

The miraculous victory gained by the Crusaders at Muret, in A. D. 1213, when 
Simon de Montfort, at the head of only eight hundred horsemen, vanquished and put to 
flight an army of at least forty thousand, has always been regarded as one of the first 
triumphs of the Holy Rosary. An ancient crucifix pierced with arrows is still preserved 
at Toulouse, which St. Dominic is said to have held aloft on this occasion to animate the 
courage of the soldiers. Later on we find the Saint establishing the Confraternity of 
the Holy Rosary in various places, and working many marvelous conversions by means 
of the “ Roses of Mary.” 

VII. — Foundation of the Order. 

The victory of Muret lulled the storm of combat for a time; and Dominic, now in 
his forty-fourth year, prepared to lay the foundation of that Order which was to bear 
his name to future generations, as long as the world and the Church should last. In his 
apostolic journeys he had gathered a few disciples around him; and in the summer of 
A. D. 1214 he came with them to Toulouse, where a wealthy citizen named Peter Cellani, 
and one Thomas of like rank, supposed to be his brother, placed themselves and all 
they had at his disposal. The little company took up their abode in Peter’s house ; the 
Saint clothed them with the white habit and surplice of the Canons Regular, which he 
himself always wore, and began with them a life of poverty and prayer under the rules 
of religious discipline. But the life for which he destined his sons was not to consist 
solely of monastic observances and the solemn choral recitation of the Divine Office; 
^they were to labor for the salvation of souls by the ministry of the word, based on a 

226 




it*® 


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-a- 





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profound knowle^ 3 ge«ei/ §acred science. Now there was at that tir^IrTToulousSra^octor 
“ r great rerfown, Alexander by name, who in after years became Bisn^pSjf 

fy, 4 t a time when the See of Litchfield had been temporarily tran 
To^him the Saint led his little company for instruction, humbljfyjoimn 
Cb them as a learner, though he was well known to be profoundly versed in sacr 
fen Alexander beheld the seven white-robed figures enter his lecture hall, 
t /stood them to be the men who had been shown him that morning in a dream 
*"vj\ ftguF^ of seven stars, small at first and scarcely visible, but increasing in size a 
' ^ness until they enlightened the whole world. 

Desirous of obtaining the approbation of the Holy See for the establishment of his 
Order, the Saint now set out for Rome, traveling in the company of his friend, Bishop 
Fulk of Toulouse, who was on his way to attend the General Council of the Lateran. 
Dominic’s fame had preceded him, and he met with a cordial reception from Pope 
Innocent III., and from the Fathers of the Council; but, when the plan for the foundation 
f the new Order was laid before him, the Pontiff showed no disposition to favor the 
esign. Preaching and teaching, the means which the proposed institute intended to 
adopt in laboring for the salvation of souls, had hitherto been regarded as the special 
functions of the episcopate; moreover, the sect of the Waldenses, which had recently 
given much trouble, had grown out of the abuse of the office of preaching, usurped by 
men without learning or authority; and the Council had just ruled that no more new 
Orders were to be allowed in the Church. A second time the Saint ventured to press 
his request, but with no better result. Still he did not lose heart; he looked not to man 
but to God for an answer to his petition, and spent his days and nights in penitential 
exercises and in. fervent supplications at the shrines of the saints. 

It pleased God to make His will known to Innocent in a vision of the night, wherein 
he seemed to see the Lateran Basilica about to- fall, but supported on the shoulders of 
St. Dominic. Four years before, a similar vision had been granted to him, when St. 

Francis of Assisi had solicited the approbation of his infant Order; and by this coinci- 
dence the Pope understood that in the designs of God these two men had been raised 
up to repair the ruin caused in the Church by vice and heresy, and to support her by /wm u 
„ „.eir doctrine and example. In order not to act in positive contradiction to the principle / 
m! so recently laid down by the Council, the Pope, when imparting to Dominic the joyful « j 
'^^news of the grant of his petition, bade him return to France, that, in concert with his 
Brethren, he might choose out of the ancient rules already in use in the Church, that 
jyhich should seem best suited to their purpose. 

The Saint was, however, detained in the Holy City till the spring of the following 
ic* year, A. D. 1216; and it was during this interval, that, being one night in prayer in the 
Basilica of St. Peter, he beheld our Lord with three arrows in His hand, with which He 
seemed about to strike the world/ iGLl AfiSlShment of its wickedness. Then the Blessed 


Virigin presented to 
appease His justice. 


should convert sinners and 
elf ; the other was wholly 






unknown to him. The next day, entering a Church to pray, he beheld the stranger of 
his vision, who was no other than St. Francis. Embracing him with tears, he exclaimed: 
“You are my comrade; you will go with me; let us keep together, and nothing shall 
prevail against us.” This was the beginning of a friendship which lasted for the 
remainder of their lives; and, though their Orders remained distinct, yet the children 
of the two holy Patriarchs have ever been linked together by a special bond of fraternal 
charity. 

In the spring of A. D. 1216, Dominic returned to Toulouse, where he found the 
number of his brethren had increased from six to sixteen. He gathered them together 
at Prouille, where after earnest invocation of the Holy Ghost, they made choice of the 
rule of St. Augustine, thus fulfilling the command of the Sovereign Pontiff; whilst at 
the same time the founder was left free to add Constitutions of his own to the general 
principles of religious life laid down by the great Doctor of the Church. Dominic’s 
whole plan is expressed in that passage of his Constitutions, where it is said : “The Order 
of Preachers is principally and essentially designed for preaching and teaching in order 
thereby to communicate to others the fruits of contemplation and to procure the salvation 
of souls.” The Saint well knew, that, to sanctify others, the teachers should first be 
sanctified themselves. He therefore included in his Constitutions all the essential char- 
acteristics of monastic life; the abstinence from meat and the long fast from Holy Cross 
until Easter; the observance of silence at the times and in the places appointed; the 
daily chapter; the strict law of poverty, and the rigorous practice of penance. 

At the same time a certain freedom and expansiveness were mingled with the 
strictness of the discipline, which enabled the Order to bend and mold itself so as to 
meet its primary purpose, the salvation of souls. Certain powers of dispensation were 
granted, to be used when too rigid an adherence to the letter of the law would impede 
the Brethren in their more active duties. There were, also enactments, regulating their 
studies and the management of such schools as they might open for the teaching of 
others. Contemplation, apostolic labor for souls, and the especial cultivation of theo- 
logical science may, therefore, be regarded as the three objects which Dominic sought 
to unite and provide for in the Constitutions of his Order. 

On his return to Toulouse, his friend, Bishop Fulk, who had already shown himself 
a munificent benefactor to the new-born Order, bestowed on him the Church of St. 
Romain in that city. As Peter Cellani’s house had become too small for the increasing 
numbers of the Brethren, the Saint caused a very poor and humble little convent to be 
built attached to this Church ; and thither the little community removed in the October 
of A. D. 1216. 

Meanwhile he set himself out once more for Rome, to obtain from the Sovereign 
Pontiff the promised confirmation of his Order. On his way, he received the mournful 
tidings of the death of his faithful protector, Innocent III., and, on reaching the Holy 
City, he found that the new Pope, Honorius III., was absent at Perugia. Whilst 
anxiously awaiting his return, Dominic was encouraged by a heavenly vision when 

228 







praying at the tomb of the Apostles. St. Peter and St. Paul appeared to him; and the 
former gave him a staff and the latter a book, with the words: “Go and teach, for to 
this art thou called." Then he seemed to see his Brethren go forth, two by two, 
throughout the whole world, preaching the word of God to all nations. The Pope 
arrived in Rome towards the end of the year, and on December 23, issued two bulls 
confirming the new Order, on which he bestowed the name of the Order of Friars- 
Preachers. Dominic then made his solemn profession as the first Friar-Preacher, in the 
hands of the Sovereign Pontiff. 


V III. — Dispersion of the Brethren. 

Great was the joy of the Brethren at St. Romain’s when their holy Father once 
more appeared in their midst in the May of A. D. 1217; but it was somewhat damped 
when they learned his intention of speedily dispersing the little community but just 
gathered together, that they might plant the Order far and wide. The Count de Mont- 
fort, many influential ecclesiastics, and even his own companions remonstrated with 
him on the imprudence of such a step. But the Saint, guided by the Spirit of God, 
remained unshaken; and the following Feast of the Assumption found all the Brethren 
assembled in the Church of our Lady at Prouille, to pronounce their vows, before depart- 
ing on their respective missions. Dominic himself offered the Holy Sacrifice, in the 
presence of de Montfort and of a great multitude, who had gathered together to witness 
the ceremony. When the Mass was ended, the Saint, still clad in his sacred vestments, 
addressed his Brethren, reminding them of the end for which their Order was instituted, 
and of the duties to which they stood pledged. He exhorted them to courage and 
confidence in God, and bade them be ever ready to serve the Church in whatever way 
they might be called upon to work for the salvation of souls. Then they knelt before 
him and made their solemn vows in his hands. The nuns of Prouille in like manner all 
made their profession on the same day, adding also the vow of enclosure. 

When the ceremony was over, the Saint declared to each of them the quarter for 
which he was destined. Two were to remain at Prouille and two at St. Romain; no 
fewer than seven of the little band were destined to establish the Order in Paris, where 
flourished the most famous university then existing; four were dispatched to Spain; 
whilst the Saint reserved one to return with himself to Rome. Then he sent them forth 
with his blessing, in truly apostolic guise, with no money for their journey. And when 
some Cistercians who were present expressed their surprise that he should send out 
“these unlettered boys” to preach and teach, the Saint gently replied: “I know, nay, 
I am certain, that these ‘boys’ of mine will go and return in safety; and that they will 
reap great fruit of souls.” 

IX. — Mode of Traveling. 

In the October of A. D. 1217, Dominic again turned his steps towards Rome, 
observing in this journey the same rule which he followed in all his apostolic wanderings. 

229 




They were always made on foot, he and his companions depending on charity for their 
support, and preaching in all the places through which they passed. As soon as he was 
out of the town or villages, he would stop and take off his shoes, performing the rest of 
the journey barefoot, however rough the roads might be. He would never allow his 
companions to carry his bundle or his shoes, though they often begged him to do so. 
When they looked down from the heights they were descending over any country or 
city which they were about to enter, he would weep as he thought of the miseries men 
suffered there and of the offences they committed against God. Then, as he drew 
nearer, he would put on his shoes, and, kneeling down, would pray that his sins might 
“•not draw down on these places the chastisements of heaven. 

* His eyes were generally cast down, and he never seemed to notice anything curious 
or remarkable on the way. If it rained or any other discomfort befell him on the road, 
he blessed God for it, singing in a loud voice his favorite hymns, “ Hail, Queen of Heaven,” 
or, “Come, Holy Ghost.” He inviolably observed the fasts and abstinences prescribed 
by his Constitutions, though he was indulgent in dispensing his Brethren from them 
/hen on a journey. He insisted on strict silence being observed by all from after 
lompline until after Prime; at other times he would beguile the way with spiritual 
Reading or holy conversation. Sometimes he would say to his companions: “Go on 
sfore, and let us think a little of our Divine Lord.” On these occasions they often hac^^ 
if^to turn back and look for him, and would find him kneeling in some lonely place, absorbed 
in prayer. 

The fatigues of the journey never prevented him from saying Mass daily, whenever 
there was a church to be found; and most frequently he would not only say, but sing it; 
/for he was one who never spared his voice or strength in the Divine Offices. He always 
stopped for the night at some religious house, whenever this was possible, giving as his 
reasons for doing so: “We shall be able to sing Matins to-night.” The inmates made 
"the most of the few hours of his stay; and, if any were suffering from trial or temptation, 
he never tired of comforting and advising them till he had restored to them the joy of 
their souls. If there were no such houses to receive him, he left the choice of the night’s 
.lodging to his companions, and was all the better pleased if it chanced to be incom- 
modious, only making it a rule, before entering, to spend some time in the nearest 
-Church. Wherever he was, whether at home or on a journey, we are told “he ever 
spoke of God or to God”; and he desired that his Brethren should do the same. 

As the Saint journeyed onwards, through France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, 
he was continually joined by fresh disciples and received earnest requests for the estab- 
lishments of Convents of the Order, which he promised to satisfy as soon as possible. 


X. — Establishment of the Order in Rome. 

On arriving in the Eternal City, Dominic was received with much affection by Pope 
Honorius, who bestowed upon him the ancient Church of St. Sixtus, together with some 

230 





\ 








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• i 

f\JA : ({fa 

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adjoining buildings. Assisted by the alms of the faithful, the Saint enlarged these, so 
as to render them capable of receiving a considerable number of Brethren. Within 
three months he had assembled around him in Rome more than a hundred religious; 
and, faithful to his principle that “the grain must be scattered, not hoarded up,” he 
summoned his favorite companion, Blessed Bertrand of Garrigua, from Paris, to begin 
a new foundation at Bologna, then the seat of one of the most renowned universities 
of the world. 

God was pleased at this time to confirm the teaching and authority of the Saint 
by many and notable miracles. A heart-broken mother laid her dead child at his feet 
and received it back alive and well; and a poor mason, crushed beneath a falling wall, 
was restored to life. The renown of these miracles was so great that the people followed 
him about wherever he went, as though he were an angel, cutting off pieces of his habit 
to keep as relics. The community of St. Sixtus was wholly dependent for subsistence 
on the alms of the faithful. On one occasion, when there was no food in the house, the 
Saint bade the Brethren sit down to the table as usual. Then he began to pray; lo! 
there appeared in the midst of the refectory two angels in the form of beautiful young 
men, who placed before each Brother one whole loaf of admirable whiteness ; after which 
they bowed their heads and disappeared. And Dominic said to his Brethren: “Eat 
the bread which the Lord has sent you.” Then he told the servers to bring some wine; 
and, on hearing that there was none, he bade them go again to the vessel and pour out 
the wine which the Lord had sent. And going, they found the vessel filled even to the 
brim with excellent wine. Similar miracles recur several times in the life of the Saint. 

About this time, the Pope entrusted Dominic with the delicate task of gathering 
together a number of religious women then living in Rome without enclosure or regular 
discipline. With that admirable union of patience, prudence and firmness, tempered 
with the charm of a sweet and tranquil gaiety, which rendered his powers of persuasion 
irresistible, the Saint accomplished the difficult work. The nuns, to the number of 
forty-four, begged to receive the habit of his Order, and renewed their profession in his 
hands. They, together with two Cardinals and a number of other persons, were the 
witnesses of one of the Saint’s greatest miracles, the raising to life of a young man of 
the name of Napoleon, who had been killed by a fall from his horse. After offering the 
Holy Sacrifice, at the elevation in which he was seen to be raised in ecstasy, he thrice 
touched the face and mangled limbs of the deceased to put them in their place, and 
thrice prostrated himself. Then he made the sign of the Cross; and, with his hands 
extended towards heaven and his body raised more than a palm above the ground, he 
cried with a loud voice: “ O young man, Napoleon, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 
I say to thee arise.” Immediately he that was dead arose alive and unhurt. 

The Saint gave up his own Church and Convent of St. Sixtus to the nuns, receiving 
from Pope Honorius in exchange, the Church of St. Sabina. Here it was that he admitted 
to the habit two Polish brothers, Hyacinth and Ceslaus, who were destined to plant the 
Order in northern Europe, and ultimately to be raised to the altars of the Church. 

231 


m 





The Brethren were at this time lodged in a portion of the Pontifical residence which 
adjoined their newly-acquired Church; and Dominic was much distressed at seeing the 
servants of Cardinals and others who frequented the palace idling about the ante- 
chambers, playing games of chance, whilst their masters were engaged in the business 
of the Church; and, by the Pope’s command, he began to explain Holy Scripture, not 
only to the humble audience which he had petitioned to instruct, but to the whole 
Pontifical Court. This was the first appointment of a Master of the Sacred Palace, an 
important office always held by a member of the Dominican Order. Besides delivering 
these lectures, the Saint preached almost daily in one or other of the Churches of the 
city, and is said to have inaugurated the custom among preachers of beginning their 
sermons with the Hail Mary. But his chief occupation was the training of the disciples 
who flocked into the Order in ever-increasing numbers, and of the nuns of St. Sixtus, 
whom he daily visited and instructed in the principles of the spiritual life. 

To this period of the Saint’s history belongs the foundation of his Third Order, 
known at first under the title of the “Militia of Jesus Christ.” In its origin it was of 
the nature of a military religious Order for the defence of the Church. As time went 
on, however, its first name was laid aside and that of the Order of Penance of St. Dominic 
adopted in its stead ; the duties of military service were exchanged for those of penance 
and charity; women as well as men were received into its ranks; and some of the sanctity 
of the cloister thus passed into family and secular life. Besides Tertiaries living in their 
own homes, there are now in almost every part of the world numerous and flourishing 
congregations of the Third Order, gathered together in community under all the obliga- 
tions of religious life, and devoting themselves to every kind of charitable labor. 


XI. — Favors of the Queen of Heaven. 

From amongst the many beautiful stories belonging to this period of St. Dominic’s 
history, we must limit ourselves to two or three; and these shall be chosen out of those 
which show him to us as one of the most favored clients of the Queen of Heaven. One 
night, as he was praying in the dormitory, he saw three ladies coming along, of whom 
the one in the middle seemed the most beautiful and venerable. She was sprinkling the 
sleeping Friars with holy water and making over them the sign of the Cross. The Saint 
cast himself at her feet and besought her to tell him who she was. “I am she whom 
you invoke every evening,” was the reply; “and when you say: ‘Turn then, O gracious 
advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us,’ I prostrate before my Son for the preservation 
of this Order.” 

On the same night a second vision was granted to the Saint. He saw the Lord with 
the Blessed Virgin standing on His right hand; and, looking about him, he beheld 
religious of every Order standing before God ; but of his own he did not see one. Then 
he began to weep bitterly; and he dared not draw nigh to our Lord or His Mother till 


232 



they made him a sign to do so. He came, still weeping bitterly. And, when our Lord 
asked the cause of his tears, he answered: “I weep because I see here religious of all 
Orders except my own.” And the Lord said to him: “Wouldst thou see thine own?" 
And he, trembling, replied: ‘‘Yes, Lord.” Then the Lord placed his hand on the 
shoulder of the Blessed Virgin and said: ‘‘I have given thine Order to my Mother.” 
And the Blessed Virgin opened her mantle, and, extending it before the eyes of Dominic, 
so that its immensity covered all the space of the heavenly country, he saw under its 
folds a vast multitude of his children. 

In the summer of A. D. 1218, the Saint received a disciple of unusual promise and 
distinction in the person of Blessed Reginald of Orleans, whom our Lady cured of a 
mortal sickness by anointing him with her own virginal hands, and to whom she showed 
the habit of the Order, appearing to him holding the scapular, and saying: ‘‘Behold 
the habit of thy Order.” From that time the use of the surplice was laid aside and the 
scapular adopted in its place. 



XII. — Journey to Spain. 

Towards the close of A. D. 1218, the Saint set out to visit the various foundations 
of his Order which had been made during the past year, leaving Blessed Reginald to be 
his Vicar in Italy, and bidding him fix his residence at Bologna. At Faenza the Saint 
was invited to lodge in the Bishop’s palace; and, rising at the hour of Matins, he went, 
according to his custom, to the nearest Church to assist at the Divine Office. The 
members of the household watched him secretly to observe how he was able to leave 
the palace without rousing the inmates ; and they beheld two beautiful young men who 
stood at the door of his chamber with lighted torches, and so led the way for him and 
his companions, every door opening for them as they went along, and in this way they 
were every night conducted in safety to the Church of St. Andrew and brought back in 
like manner. The ground thus traversed still bears the name of “the Angels’ field.-” 

After brief visits to Bologna and Toulouse, the Saint crossed the Pyrenees and found 
himself once more on his native soil of Spain. At Segovia he laid the foundations of 
a convent; and a grotto is to be seen there, now converted into a chapel, the blood- 
stained walls of which still bear witness to the heroic constancy with which this true 
martyr of penance offered his scourged and bleeding body as a sacrifice to God. Here 
it was that St. Teresa came to pray in A. D. 1574, and that she was favored with a vision 
of the holy Patriarch. Asking him why he placed himself on her left side, she received 
the reply: “ Because the right side belongs to my Master.” At these words she turned 
and beheld our Lord standing on her right-hand side. He stayed there for some minutes, 
and, before withdrawing, He spoke to her these words: “Rejoice with My friend.” 
St. Dominic remained with her for two hours, relating to her the sufferings he had 
endured and the great graces our Lord had bestowed on him in that grotto, and speaking 
to her many words of encouragement and consolation. 




c 4> d 








233 


The Saint then proceeded to Zamora, where he made arrangements for a future 
foundation, and thence to Madrid, where a community had already been established. 
So great and wonderful were the fruits of his ministry and that of his Brethren in that 
city, as to draw tears of joy and gratitude from his eyes. Before his departure he 
founded there a convent of nuns, to whom he made over the little house hitherto occupied 
by the Friars, together with all the revenues which had been granted to them since their 
coming to Madrid. He next directed his steps towards Saragossa. On the way thither 
he was abandoned by some young Castilian novices, who had been attracted by the fame 
of his eloquence and miracles, but whose fervor had cooled on making closer acquaintance 
with the austerity of the rule. Turning sadly to those who remained, he said: “Will 
you also go away?’’ “ God forbid, Father,” replied one of them, “ that we should follow 
the feet and abandon the head.” Dominic had recourse to prayer; those who had 
yielded to the force of temptation soon returned, imploring with tears to be received 
back into the number of his children; and the tender heart of their loving Father did 
not reject them. 

He showed himself amiable to all men, rich and poor, Jews and Gentiles, who were 
then very numerous in Spain; and he was beloved by all, except the heretics, whom he 
refuted in his sermons. Yet even these he exhorted with charity, and sought to win to 
penance and the true Faith. He preached and heard confessions in every place through 
which he passed; and he founded the Confraternity of the Rosary at Palencia, and 
probably in many other cities. His whole visit to Spain occupied less than five months ; 
and the April of A. D. 1219 found him once more at Toulouse, where he again gave 
himself up without reserve to all the labors of his apostolic calling. 

In company with Blessed Bertrand of Garrigua, the Saint next set out for Paris, 
visiting on his way the famous sanctuary of our Lady of Rocamadour, said to have been 
founded by Zaccheus the Publican. On this journey they overtook some German 
pilgrims, who, hearing them singing and reciting litanies, piously joined in their devotions 
and provided sumptuously for their meals during four successive days. Then the Saint 
said to his companion: “Brother Bertrand, I have a conscience to be thus reaping 
temporal benefits from these pilgrims without sowing any spiritual seed for them in 
return. Let us kneel down and pray to God that he would give us to understand and 
speak their language, that so we may speak to them of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Their 
prayer was granted; and for four days more they traveled with the pilgrims and talked 
to them of our Lord. The Saint strictly forbade his companions to reveal this miracle, 
saying: “If the Brethren hear of it, they will take us to be saints, whereas we are only 
poor sinners: and, if it come to the ears of seculars, we shall be exposed to much 
vanity.” The matter, therefore, remained secret until after his death. 

Dominic spent an entire month in Paris, where he found a group of gifted disciples, 
the very elite of the university, already clothed in the habit of the Order. He made 
arrangements for several new foundations, amongst others one in Scotland, before setting 
out on his return to Italy. On reaching Bologna, he found that Blessed Reginald had 


234 




inhered together and trairffid\a lar.ge comfhunj^y of^ fervent Brethren; so that he was 
able speedily to send out colonies'df hi^whit^-robe4 children' to various cities of Northern” 
Italy. Reginald himself was (ilspattebed - to Pari^,'a 4 ^the Saint intended to make his 
own headquarters at Bologna. Before his departure, the faithful disciple committed 
to the direction of his holy Father one of his penitents, Diana D’Andalo by name, who 
made the vows of religion in the Saint’s hands, and became one of his most devoted 
spiritual daughters. She afterwards founded the monastery of St. Agnes in her native 
city, and has recently received the honor of beatification. 


XIII. — Closing Years. 

In the May of A. D. 1220, the first General Chapter of the Order was held at Bologna, 
in which it was ordained that henceforth the Brethren should hold no possessions or 
revenues, and should renounce those which had already been bestowed on them, depend- 
ing for their subsistence on the alms of the faithful. The Saint besought the assembled 
Fathers to release him from his office of superiority, saying: ‘'I am grown cold and 
remiss, and am no longer of any use.” Needless to say, they absolutely refused to 
accept his resignation. 

In the General Chapter of the following year, it appeared that sixty convents had 
already been founded, and the Order was then divided into eight Provinces, viz: Italy, 
Spain, France, Provence, Lombardy, Germany. Hungary and England. The Friars 
arrived in the last mentioned country in the June of A. D. 1221, and were first established 
at Oxford. Thence the Order soon spread into the sister Isle, where it was established 
by a certain Brother Reginald or Ronald, who afterwards became Archbishop of Armagh 
and Primate of Ireland. 

The limited space at our command compels us to pass over in silence many a beautiful 
story which reveals the Saint to us in his familiar intercourse with his religious children 
and with those who sought his counsel and assistance. We can only say that these 
closing months of his life were spent, partly at Bologna and partly in journeys to Rome 
and various parts of Northern Italy, preaching, visiting convents already founded, and 
establishing others in every direction. 

Shortly after the Chapter of A. D. 1221, as Dominic was in prayer, a youth of great 
beauty stood before him and said to him: ‘‘Come, my beloved; come and enter into 
true joy.” After receiving this precious assurance of his approaching glory, the Saint 
said to some clerics of Bologna with whom he was on terms of affectionate intimacy: 
‘‘You see me now, dear friends, in good health; but be sure of this, that, before next 
Feast of the Assumption, I shall have departed to God.” 


:onfirmed by revelations made to the 
•J) a striking resemblance to his Divine 


It is the constant tradition of^thej^; 
Saints, that, even in his qjct^rioj^St,,^romi: 




Master. He is described by his spiritual daughter. Sister Cecilia, as being about the 
middle stature, but slightly made; his face was beautiful and gather sanguine in its color \M 
hisjteir and cloven beard of a fair and bright hue; and liis feSFes remakably finer. He was^ 
always joyoi# and cheerful, save when moved to compassion by the afflictions of his 
neighbors. His hands were long and beautiful; and his voice was clear, noble and 
musical. He was never bald; and he always preserved his religious crown or tonsure 
entifiz, mingled here and there with a very few white hairs. His head was general ly a 
little inclined, in an attitude of thoughtfulness and humility. 

"He is firmly believed, according to the testimony of one of his confessors, to have - 
preserved his baptismal innocence unstained. Nothing had power to disturb the ^ 
matchless serenity of his soul which was his special grace. The keynote of his life was J- 
his boundless zeal for the salvation of souls, springing from the burning love which he bore^p 
V to his Divine Master. “ O Lord, have mercy ! What will become of sinners? ” were the 
words he was heard repeating over and over again in his long night-watches before the 
Blessed Sacrament. 

St. Dominic was pre-eminently a man of prayer. Whether at home or abroad, in 
the church or by the wayside, his heart was always united to God as to a centre wherein 
he abode with marvelous tranquillity. In all his cares and labors, amid hunger, thirst, « 
J fatigue, long journeys and continual interruptions, his heart was free and ready to turn to 
God at all times, as though conscious of none else but Him. One day at Bologna, in 
familiar intercourse with a holy Cistercian Prior, he told him that he had never asked 
anything of God which had not been granted to him. “Then, Father,’’ said his friend, 

“I marvel that you do not ask the vocation of Master Conrad, whom the Brethren so % 
greatly desire to have amongst them.” “The thing is difficult,” answered Dominic; 
“nevertheless if you will pray with me this night, I doubt not God will incline to our 
request.” The two friends accordingly kept watch in the church together; and the next 
morning as the Brethren were intoning the first words of the Hymn at Prime, Master 
Conrad, a renowned professor of the university, entered the choir and asked the habit 
from the hands of the Saint. 

Dominic loved to make the body take part with the soul in the service of the Divine 
Majesty; hence his prayer was accompanied by frequent inclinations, genuflections and 




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wore around his waist; the first time for his own sins, the second for the conversion of 
sinners, the third for the souls in Purgatory; and, the more to conform himself to the 
sufferings and humiliations of his Lord, he would sometimes receive this terrible chastise- 
ment from the hands of others. 

All who gave their testimony concerning him affirm that never had they known a 
man so humble. His spirit of humility and compunction of heart showed itself in his 
prayers, in which he constantly made use of passages from Holy Scripture expressive of 
the most profound self-abasement ; in his bearing towards others, thanking his benefactors 
on his knees when a whole loaf was given him on the quest; in the care with which he 
endeavored to conceal everything that could attract the praise and esteem of men. 

His confidence in God was boundless and unshaken. “Go and pray, my son; God 
will provide,” he would reply to those who came to tell him of the temporal necessities of 
the Brethren; and God always brought it about that they were supplied with all that they 
needed. 

Both as a confessor and a preacher, St. Dominic possessed a singular grace for 
drawing souls to true penance; and, not content with the public ministry of the Word, he 
daily gave a spiritual conference to his own Brethren, unless prevented by some great 
necessity. He was full of compassionate charity for others; and, if any one had tempta- 
tion or trouble and went to ask his counsel, his words were so full of sweetness that none 
ever left him without being consoled. He had a mother’s tenderness for his children, 
which he showed even by his care for their bodily comfort, trying by every means to 
alleviate the hardships they endured and to encourage them to perseverance. This 
tenderness of heart was, however, united to a singular firmness of purpose. When, after 
prayer and mature deliberation, he had decided on a course of action, he adhered to it 
without passion or anger, but with a constancy which nothing could move. 

Yet this gentle-hearted Saint, whose character, so full of love, tenderness and holy 
joy, was modeled on the Sacred Heart of his Divine Master, has been so pertinaciously 
misrepresented by Protestant writers, that a gloomy color has been given to his picture 
even in the minds of Catholics who are not familiar with his story. The father of lies had 
doubtless had a special grudge against the Founder of “the Order of Truth,” and does 
his best to perpetuate the time-worn calumnies which find expression in such groundless 
epithets as “the cruel and bloodthirsty Dominic,” “the pitiless Founder of the Inquisi- 
tion,” and the like. If the office which the Saint discharged among the heretics of 
Languedoc was or was not identical with that which afterwards bore the name of Inquisi- 
tor, certain it is, that, neither in his exercise of that office nor in any other period of his 
life, there is to be discovered a single trait which is out of harmony with his character as a 
faithful follower of Him who was “meek and humble of heart.” 

XV. — Death of the Saint. 


It was in the beginning of August, A^D. 
after a journey to Venice, performed 9rS usiu 


[, that Dominic returned to Bologna, 
5) foot and preaching as he went. He 


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'■Fv y" preached the convent of St. Nicholas at nightfall; yet, in spite of his fatigue and the severe 

headacfnrfo wl^icl he remarned'ToftV^sing with the Prior and Procu?-^jS 
after' an^^^n^roceeded to the church where he continued 4 m^| 
sprayer uhtil the hour of Matins, rmtVHhStanding their earnest entreaty that for once he 
would consent to rest during the cpfree. ^^^S^as it was ended he was obliged to give—"-" 
_A| -- n way to the violence of the fever, and conl^raretlTto be laid on some sacking stretched on / 

’ ^ ie g roun d- Though his head was swimming with the pain and heaviness of the h 

jf \ malady, he desired that the novices might be called around him, that he might speak to 

them for the last time. He comforted and exhorted them with sweet words and a smiling 1 

countenance; indeed during his whole illness he was so patient that he neither complained 
V\ nor uttered a single groan. 

Then he desired that twelve of the most discreet Brethren should be summoned, and j 
vj|/ in their presence made a general confession of his life. The whole community were now 

recalled; and, as they stood round their dying Father, he gave them his last will and f. 
< % ij testament in the following words : “ Persevere in serving our Lord with fervor, and apply wd 

A yourselves to extend the Order, which is now only in its beginning. You know that to f 

\ P ' 1 serve God is to reign, but we must serve Him with our whole hearts. Be firm then in a i 

holy life; keep faithful to your rule; and increase in all virtue. Behold, my children, 
what I leave to you as a heritage : Have charity, guard humility, and make your treasure ^ 4 
'\ / f °ut °f voluntary poverty . ” k; 

• The Brethren were overwhelmed with sorrow; and in the hope of obtaining for him v 
f some relief by removal to a more healthy air, they conveyed him to a house outside the 
Wfe - ’ city. He had received the Holy Viaticum before his removal from St. Nicholas, and \ ' 
Extreme Unction was now administered. Fearing, however, that if he died in that house, 
the rector of the adjoining church would not allow his body to be taken away, the Saint x 
' (M / entreated his children to carry him back to the convent. “ God forbid,” said he, ‘‘that I 
KMa/ should be buried anywhere save under the feet of my Brethren.” Though they feared he » 

) yjfc ">n might die on the way, the Friars carried him back to the city, weeping as they went. As 
\\ he had no cell of his own, they took him to that of Brother Moneta, who also gave him a ''•*& 
II change of garments; for so absolute was the poverty he practised that he had no habit 
7 7 assigned to his use save that which he wore. At his earnest request he was laid on ashes 
J(\/\ on the floor. 

ij vV )a The Saint was now sinking rapidly and the Brethren saw a very short time would rob 
S-Jwj^^Jiem of the Father whom they loved so tenderly. They were all bathed in tears ; and the / 
^-^^TTPrior bent over him, saying: “ Dear Father, you leave us desolate and afflicted; remem- > | 
mmp ber us and pray for us to God.” Then the dying Saint, raising his hands and eyes to ^ 
/' heaven, said in a clear and distinct voice: ‘‘Holy Father, since by Thy mercy I have ^ 
"®yer fulfilled Thy will, and have kept and- preserved those whom Thou hast given me, 
ripw I commend them to Thee. Do Thou ke»s th^mfdo Thou preserve them.” Then„jf^ 
'dirV i turning to his childrep, 'he added, Aem^rly^ /IDq not weep, my children. I shall beVj^ 
T^j^'^more helpful to you where I am going than I have ever been in this life.” 













His lips continued to move in prayer whilst the solemn commendation of the soul 
was made; at the end of which, at the words: “Come to his assistance, all ye Saints of 
God ; meet him, all ye angels of the Lord ; receive his soul and offer it in the presence of the 
Most High,” he stretched his arms to heaven and expired. It was about noon on Friday, 
the 6th of August, A. D. 1221, when the Saint thus departed to God, being in the fifty-first 
year of his age. 

Many revelations of his glory were granted, perhaps the most remarkable of which was 
that received by one of his children, the Blessed Guala of Brescia, who, as he fell asleep 
leaning against the bell-tower of his church, seemed to see two ladders let down from an 
opening in the sky above him. At the top of one stood our Lord, and His Blessed Mother 
was at the summit of the other. Angels were going up and down the ladders; and at the 
foot was seated one clad in the habit of his Order; but his face was covered with “his hood. 
The ladders were drawn up into the company of the Angels, surrounded by dazzling glory. 
He afterwards found that his holy Patriarch had breathed his last at the very moment 
when this vision was vouchsafed to him ; and he took it as a certain token that the soul of 
Dominic had been taken up to heaven. 

The mortal remains of the Saint were laid to rest, as he himself had wished, beneath 
the feet of his Brethren, in their Church of St. Nicholas. Twelve years later they were 
solemnly translated to a more honorable tomb, on which occasion they exhaled an odor 
of surpassing sweetness; and an immense number of miracles bore testimony to his 
sanctity. 

Pope Gregory IX., who as Cardinal had been an intimate friend of the Saint, had the 
happiness of raising him to the altars of the church. His solemn Canonization took place 
at Rieti, A. D. 1234. 

St. Dominic’s principal festival is now celebrated on August 4 ; the translation of his 
relics is kept on May 25 ; and on September 1 5 there is yet another feast in his honor, in 
commemoration of the many wonderful favors granted at Soriano in the south of Italy, 
where a miraculous picture of the Saint is preserved. 

“ O wonderful hope which thou gavest to those who wept for thee in the hour of thy 
death, promising after thy departure to be helpful to thy Brethren ; fulfill, 0 Father, what 
thou hast said, and assist us by thy prayers.” 













Penance, Matrimony, Confirmation, Baptism 

Instruction on the Renewal of Baptismal Vows 
Doctrine on the Holy Trinity 

The Most Holy Sacraments of the Altar 
The Most Holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction 
The Most Holy Sacrament of Holy Order 
The Ceremonies Used at Funerals 

A Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Illustrated 


By 

REV. LEONARD GOFFINE 


Translated from the Latest German Edition of Rev. George Ott 
By 

Very Rev. Gerard m. pilz, O. S. B. 

241 



<7 < 




Penance. 


Unless you do penance you shall all likewise perish . ' 



ENANCE consists in the turning of our whole soul to God, hating 
and detesting the crimes we have committed, firmly resolving to 
amend our lives, our evil habits and corrupt ways, hoping 
through the mercy of God to obtain pardon. This is interior 
penance, or the virtue of penance. The sincere acknowledgment 
of our sins to a priest and the absolution he accords, is exterior 
penance, or the holy Sacrament of Penance, which Christ insti- 
tuted (John 20: 22-23), through which the sins committed after 
baptism are remitted. 


Which of these Penances is Necessary for the Forgiveness of Sins ? 

Both are necessary, for unless the conversion of the heart to God, a true conscious- 
ness of and sorrow for sin, the firm purpose of amendment and confidence in God’s mercy, 
precede the confession, declaring all our sins to a priest cannot obtain forgiveness of 
mortal sin committed after baptism. At the same time a really contrite turning to God 
will not, without confession to a priest, obtain forgiveness, except when by circumstances 
a person is prevented from approaching the tribunal of penance. Such a person must, 
however, have the ardent desire to confess as soon as possible. 

Can Any One who has Committed Mortal Sin be Saved Without Penance ? 

No, for penance is as necessary to such a one as baptism, if he wishes not to perish: 
“ Unless you do penance, says Christ, you shall all likewise perish (Luke 13 • 3 — S) - 

Is this Penance Performed at Once ? 

This penance is necessary every day of our lives; that is, we must from day to day 
endeavor to be heartily sorry for our sins, to despise them, to eradicate the roots of sin, 
that is, our passions and evil inclinations, and become more pleasing to God by penance 
and good works. 

243 




1)0 







Do All who go to Confession Perform True Penance ? 


Unfortunately they do not; for all is not accomplished with confession. If there is 
no sincere detestation of sin, no true sorrow for having offended God ; if the evil inclina- 
tions and bad habits are not overcome, ill-gotten goods restored, and calumny repaired, 
the occasions of sin avoided; if a sincere amendment of life, or, at least, its earnest purpose 
does not follow, then indeed there cannot be the least shadow of true repentance, not even 
though such persons confess weekly. But alas! we see many such. And why? Because 
many think repentance consists simply in confessing, and not in the amendment of their 
lives. Only those obtain pardon who are truly penitent and perform all that is enjoined 
upon them in confession. It is well, therefore, to read and carefully act according to the 
following instructions. 

ON THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE. 

The foundation of true repentance, interior and exterior, is the vivid knowledge of 
our sins. There are many who are unconscious of the most grievous sins in which they 
are buried; blinded by self-love, they do not even regard them as sins, do not confess 
them, perform no penance for them and are consequently eternally lost. To prevent 
this great evil, the Council of Trent (Sess. 14, c. 5) ordered a careful examination of 
conscience before confession, and afterwards to confess the sins which are discovered by 
that examination. 

244 


Why do So Many Die Impenitent ? 

Because they do not accept and use the many graces God offers them, but put off 
their repentance. If such sinners, like the godless King Antiochus (II Mach. 9), intend 
to repent on their deathbed for fear of punishment, they usually find that God in His 
justice will no longer give them the grace of repentance, for he who when he can repent, 
will not, cannot when he will. “Who will not listen at the time of grace,” says St. 
Gregory, “ will not be listened to in the time of anxiety.” And it is to be feared that he 
who postpones penance until old age, will not find justice where he looked for mercy. 


Can all Sinners do Penance ? 


With the grace of God all can, even the greatest sinners; as a real father God calls 
them when He says: “As I live ... I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the 
wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will 
ye die, O house of Israel? And the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what 
day soever he shall turn from his wickedness ” (Ezech. 23 : 1 1-1 2). 




iV 



Why 


Examine Our Conscience 




Should we 

g^atius says, no one can become fully awafl<2 of his own faults-, u: 
them by a special light; we should, therefore, first of all, daily ask the 
to enlighten us, and should then examine our thoughts, desires, \y6rdsT^etion 
mis>«3rfs since our last valid confession and how often we have sinned in these 
now this, we should let our conscience, that is, the inner voice which tells us w 
good and what is evil, speak freely, without flattering ourselves, or passing it by 
|tly. St. Charles Borromeo says, we should place before our eyes the Ten Comm! 
ments of God and carefully compare our life and our morals with them ; it is well also 
examine ourselves on the seven deadly sins, and remember the places and persons witli 
whom we have been in contact, the duties of our state of life, the vices to which we are 
most inclined, the consequences that were, or might have been produced upon ourselves ^ 
or others. At the same time, we should imagine ourselves standing before the judgment- 
seat of God, and whatever would cause us fear there, whatever we could not answer for 
there, we should look upon as sins, be sorry for, and confess. 

Is it a Sin not to Examine Ourselves Long and Carefully ? 

Certainly it is a sin for those to examine their consciences carelessly, who live 
unfaithfully and in mortal sin, and who seldom confess, because they expose themselves 
frivolously to the danger of leaving out great sins, and consequently they make a sacri- 
legious confession, committing thereby a new and grievous sin. 

Those who daily ask God for enlightenment and examine their conscience at least 
every evening before going to bed, will prepare themselves properly before approaching 
the tribunal of penance. “ Behold, you have a book in which you write your daily 
expenses,” says St. Chrysostom, ‘‘make a book of your conscience, also, and write there 
your daily sins. Before you go to bed, before sleep comes, take your book, that is, your 
conscience, and recall your sins, whether of thought, word, or deed. Say then to your 
soul : Again, 0 my soul, a day is spent, what have we done of evil or of good ? If you have 
accomplished some good, be grateful to God; if evil, resolve to avoid it for the future. 
)Shed tears in remembrance of your sins; ask forgiveness of God, and then let your body 
sleep.” 

ON CONTRITION. 

“ O man,” cries St. Augustine, ‘‘why dost thou weep over the body whence the soul 
has departed, and not over the soul from which God has withdrawn?” The idolatrous 
Michas (Judges 1 8 : 23-24) complained bitterly because his idols were taken from him; 
Esau grieved greatly over the loss of his birthright and his father’s blessing (Gen. 27 : 34). 
Should we not, therefore, be filled^ith "Sorrow, when by our sins we have lost God and 
Heaven? 

245 (f 


(r 




What is Contrition, and How Many Kinds are There ? 

“Contrition is a hearty sorrow and detestation of our sins, with a firm purpose of 
sinning no more” (Cone. Trid., Sess. 14, 4). If this grief and detestation come from a 
temporal injury, shame or punishment, it is a natural sorrow; but if we are sorry for our 
sins, because by them we have offended God, and transgressed His holy law, it is a 
supernatural sorrow; this, again, is imperfect when fear of God’s punishment is the 
motive; it is perfect, if we are sorry for our sins, because we have offended God, the 
supreme Lord and best of Fathers. 

Is Natural Sorrow Sufficient for a Good Confession ? 

It is not, because it proceeds not from a supernatural motive, but from the love or 
fear of the world. A mere natural sorrow for our sins worketh death (II Cor. 7 : 10). If 
one confess his sins having only a natural sorrow for them, he commits a sacrilege, 
because the most necessary part of the Sacrament of Penance is wanting. 

What Other Qualities are Necessary for a True Contrition ? 

Contrition should be interior, proceeding from the heart and not merely from the 
lips; it must be universal, that is, it must extend to all the mortal sins which the sinner 
has committed; it must be sovereign, that is, he must be more sorry for having offended 
God, than for any temporal evil; it must be supernatural, that is, produced in the heart 
by supernatural motives; namely, because we have offended God, lost His grace, deserved 
hell, etc. 



What Kind of Sorrow Must We Have in Order to Obtain Forgiveness of 

Our Sins ? 



That sorrow which proceeds from a perfect love of God, and not from fear of temporal 
or eternal punishment. This perfect contrition would suffice for the forgiveness of sins, 
if in case of danger of death, there should be a great desire, but no opportunity to confess 
to a priest. 

But the Holy Catholic Church has declared (Cone. Trid., Sess. 14, c. 4) the imperfect 
contrition which proceeds from the fear of eternal punishment to be sufficient for the valid 
reception of the holy Sacrament of Penance. 

Who are Those Who Have Reason to Fear They Have Aroused Only a 
Natural Sorrow for Their Sins ? 

Those who care little about knowing what true sorrow is; those who often commit 
grievous sins, and do not amend their lives ; for if true sorrow for sin had been excited in 
their hearts, with the firm purpose of amendment, the grace of God in this Sacrament 
would have strengthened the resolution, and enabled them to avoid sin, at least for a time. 
On account of their immediate relapse we justly doubt whether they have validly 
received the Sacrament of Penance and its sanctifying grace. 

246 






How Can the Sinner Attain True Sorrow ? 

The sinner can attain true sorrow by the grace of God and his own co-operation. 
That both are necessary, is shown by the prophet Jeremias (Jer. 31 : 18-19), who prays: 
“Convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted: for Thou art the Lord, my God. For 
after Thou didst convert me, I did penance: and after Thou didst shew unto me, I struck 
my thigh” (with sorrow). To which God replies: “If thou wilt be converted, I will 
convert thee” (Jer. 15: 19). We see, therefore, that the first and most essential means 
for producing this sorrow is the grace of God. It must begin and complete the work of 
conversion, but it will do this only when the sinner earnestly and faithfully co-operates. 
W hen God in whatever way has admonished the sinner that he should be converted, let 
him ardently implore God for the grace of a true conversion, invoke the intercession of the 
Mother of the Saviour, his guardian angel, and like the holy penitents, David, Peter, 
and Magdalen, let him meditate upon the truth that God is a just judge, who hates sin, 
and will punish it in the eternal torments of hell. Having placed these truths vividly 
before his eyes, the sinner will reflect further whether by his sins he has net himself 
deserved this punishment, and if by the enlightenment of God he finds he has, he will also 
see the danger in which he stands, that if God should permit him to die impenitent, he 
would have to suffer forever in hell. This fear of eternal punishment urges the sinner to 
hope in God’s mercy; for He wishes not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn 
from his way and live; again, our Redeemer says: “ I came to call the sinner to repent- 
ance, and there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who does penance than over ninety- 
nine just.” He considers the patience of God towards him, the graces bestowed upon 
him during his sinful life; namely, his creation, redemption, sanctification in baptism, and 
many others. He will now contemplate the beauty and perfection of God: “Who art 
Thou, O my God,” he cries, “who art Thou who hast loved me with such an unspeak- 
able love, and lovest me still, ungrateful, abominable sinner, that I am! What is all 
the beauty of this world, of the angels and of the blessed spirits compared to Thine! 
Thou fountain of all beauty, of all goodness, of all that is amiable, Thou supreme majesty, 
Thou infinite abyss of love and mercy! I for one vain thought, a short, momentary 
pleasure, a small, mean gain, could forget, offend and despise Thee! Could I sell, 
could I forfeit heaven, and eternal joy with Thee! O could I repair those crimes! 
Could I but wash them out with my tears, even with my blood?” Through such 
meditations the sinner, by the grace of God, will be easily moved to sorrow. Without 
such or similar reflections the formulas of sorrow as read from prayer-books or recited by 
heart, are by no means acts of contrition. 

Should We Make an Act of Contrition Before Confession Only. 

We should make an act of contrition before confession, and not only then, but every 
evening after the examination of conscience ; we should make one immediately after any 
fault committed, above all when in danger of death; for we know not when God will call 



247 



us to judgment, or whether we shall then have the grace to receive the Sacrament of 
Penance with proper preparation. 


ON THE PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT 


The purpose of amending our life is as necessary for the remission of sin, as contrition; 
for how could he obtain forgiveness from God, who has not the determination to sin no 
more? The will to sin cannot exist with the hatred of sin. 


What is Necessary for a Firm Purpose ? 

A firm purpose of amendment requires: the determination to avoid sin; to flee 
from all occasions that might bring the danger of sinning, all persons, places, societies- 
in which we usually sin; bravely to fight against our evil inclinations and bad habits; 
to make use of all means prescribed by our confessor, or made known to us by God 
Himself; to repair the injustice we have done; to restore the good name of our neighborf 
and to remove the scandal and enmity we have caused. 




Who, Then, Have no True Purpose of Amendment? 

Those who do not truly intend to leave the frivolous persons with whom they have, 
associated, and committed sin; to remove the occasions of cursing, swearing, drunken- 
ness, and secret sins, etc. ; who have the intention to borrow or to contract debts which 
they know they cannot pay, or do not even care to pay; to squander the property of 
their wives and children, letting them suffer want; to frequent bar-rooms, or saloons, 
fight, gamble, indulge in vile, filthy conversations and detraction, murmur against 
spiritual and temporal superiors, throw away precious time, and bring, even compel, 
others to do the same. 

CONFESSION. 


Confession is a contrite acknowledgment of our sins to a priest who is duly authorized, 
in order to obtain forgiveness. This acknowledgment of our sins is an important and 
necessary part of the holy Sacrament of Penance. 

Even in the Old Law, a certain kind of confession was prescribed and connected 
with a sacrifice, called the sacrifice of Atonement; but the forgiveness of sins was effected 
only through faith in the coming Redeemer, towards whom this sacrifice pointed (Lev. 
5: 5, 6; Num. 5:7; compare Matt. 3: 6). In the new Law, Christ gave to the apostles 
and their successors, power to forgive, and to retain sins (John 20: 21-23), and in doing 
so made them judges. Without confession on the part of the sinner, they cannot act 
as judges, and do justice in regard to giving punishment and remedies (Cone. Trid., 
sess. 14, c. 6), and as the sinner is but seldom able to make an act of perfect contrition, 
which obtains the forgiveness of sin without confession, it was necessary that the most 

248 








merciful Lord, as the Roman Catechism says (de poen, 5, 36), through the means of 
confession to the priest, should provide in an easier manner for the common salvation 




of man. Confession, at the same time, is the best means of bringing man to a knowledge 
of his sins and of their malice. Therefore, even Adam was obliged to acknowledge his 
sins, and in the same way Cain was asked by God concerning his brother’s murder, 
although God, the Omniscient, knew r the sins of both. The desire to ease the troubled 
conscience, seems born in man. Thus David says of his crime: “Because I was silent, 
my bones grew old, whilst I cried out all the day long’’ (Ps. 31: 3); and in the book 
of Proverbs it is said: “He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper, but he that shall 
confess and forsake them, shall obtain mercy’’ (Prov. 28: 13). Constant experience 
in life verifies these words, and heretics could not entirely abolish private confession, 
though they rejected the Sacrament of Penance. 


Is Confession a Human Law, or a Human Invention ? 


No, confession was instituted by Christ Himself; for after His resurrection He 
appeared to His apostles and disciples, and said to them: “Peace be with you! As the 
Father hath sent me, I also send you; that is, the same power to remit sin which the 
Father has given me, I give to you.’’ When he had said this, he breathed on them, and 
he said to them: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are 
forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (John 20: 21-23; 
compare Matt. 18: 18). In these words Christ evidently gave to the apostles and 
their successors the power to forgive and retain sins. This they can do only when the 
sins are confessed to them; and, therefore, Christ, when instituting the forgiveness of 
sins, instituted and connected with it the acknowledgment, that is, the confession of 
sins. This regulation of Christ was complied with by the first Christians in humility 
of heart, as is proved in the Acts of the Apostles, where we read: “And many (referring 
to the Christians at Ephesus) of them that believed, came confessing and declaring their 
deeds” (Acts 19 : 18). And the apostle James exhorts his own: “Confess therefore 
your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be saved” (St. James 
5 : 16). The work founded by Christ must stand, as long as the world, and as the apostles 
and disciples of our Lord died, their successors necessarily continued the work, and 
received the same power from Christ. This is verified by the whole history of His Church. 
In the very beginning of Christianity, the faithful with great sorrow confessed to the 
priest all their transgressions, even the smallest and most secret, after which they 
received absolution. “Let us be sincerely sorry as long as we live,” says St. Clement 
of Rome, a disciple of St. Paul (Ep. 1, ad Cor.), “for all evil which we have committed 
in the flesh, for having once left the world, there will no longer be any confession and 
penance for us.” Tertullian (217 after Christ) writes of those who hid their sins, being 
ashamed to confess them: “Can we also hide from the knowledge of God that which we 
conceal from a fellow creature?” (Lib. de qaen. 5, 36). Origen (f 254), after speaking 

249 


of baptism, says: “There is still a severer and more tedious way of obtaining remission 
of sin : when the sinner moistens his pillow with tears, and is not ashamed to confess his 
sins to the priest of. the Lord” (Horn. 3 in Lev.) St. Cyprian (f 258) writes of those 
Christians who during the persecutions of his time, had not sinned by openly denying 
the faith: “Yet because they had but thought of doing so, they make a sorrowful and 
simple confession to God’s priests” (Sib. de laps). Basil (f A. D. 379) writes: “Neces- 
sarily the sins must be made plain to those to whom the power of the mysteries is confided, 
that is, to the priests” (In reg. brev. 288). Many more testimonies could be brought 
from the earliest centuries of Christianity, which make it clear, that Christ Himself 
instituted confession, and that the faithful always availed themselves of it as a means 
of remission of sin. It would not have been possible for a human being, though he were 
the mightiest prince, to have imposed upon Catholic Christianity so hard an obligation 
as confession, without the special command of Christ the Son of God; nor could any one 
have invented it without the faithful at once revolting. It is also well known that, in 
the Oriental Churches which separated from the true Church in the earliest ages, private 
confession to a priest is yet valued as a divine institution. The Catholic institution of 
confession, with which, in the earliest centuries, there was even connected a public 
confession, before the whole congregation, for notorious sinners, is as old as the Church 
itself, as Pope Leo the Great (t 461) proves (Ep. 136): “The secret, auricular confession 
was introduced into the Church as early as the times of the apostles, or their immediate 
successors.” It was instituted by Christ, the God-Man, and instituted for the purpose 
of enabling the apostles and the priests, their successors, to remit in the confessional the 
sins committed after baptism, if the sinner heartily regrets them, sincerely confesses, 
and renders satisfaction for them, or to retain them if he be unworthy of absolution. 
From this it is seen that the enemies of the Catholic Church oppose, in rejecting con- 
fession, the plain expression of the holy Scriptures, and of entire Christian antiquity, 
and that it is a detestable calumny to assert that confession is simply a human invention. 
The divine institution of confession always was and is a fountain of sweetest consolation 
for sinful man, and thousands have experienced that which is said by the Council of 
Trent (Sess. 14, c. 3, de part): “The effect of this Sacrament is reconciliation with God, 
followed by peace, cheerfulness and consolation of the heart in those who worthily 
receive this Sacrament.” 

What will Aid Us to Make Confession Easy ? 

The consideration of the manifold benefits arising from it: First, forgiveness of all, 
even the most grievous sins, remission of the guilt and eternal punishment; secondly, 
the certainty of having again been made a child of God; thirdly, the sweet consolation 
and desired peace of conscience; fourthly, the necessary remedies which a pious and 
prudent confessor will prescribe for the cure of the diseases of the soul; finally, the 
prayer and exhortation of the priest, which will also add to the complete conversion 
of the sinner. 


250 








What should be done to Participate in these Benefits ? 




)) 


Besides that which has already been said of the examination of conscience, and 
especially of sorrow for sin, the confession must be sincere and open-hearted; that is, 
a correct and exact confession not only of all mortal sins, their kind, circumstances and 
number, without excuses, or veiling or lessening them, but also a faithful revelation of 
all other spiritual affairs, fears, doubts, and other wounds of the soul, for a wound which 
is not shown to the physician cannot be healed. We should not seek those confessors 
who are only “mute dogs” (Isai. 56: 10), and give absolution without hesitation, but 
we should trust the direction of our souls to learned, pious and zealous priests, and 
remain under their guidance, as in physical sickness we remain under the care of an 
experienced physician, and accept their words as if Christ Himself had spoken. 



How should the False Shame which Prevents Confession be Overcome ? 


It should be remembered that the priest in the confessional is the representative of 
Christ, and that whoever lies to the confessor, seeks to deceive God Himself, who abomi- 
nates a lie, and at the Last Day will publicly put such a liar to shame. The confessor 
takes the place of Christ, and after His example must be merciful to the sinner, if, a 
sinful man himself, he hopes to receive mercy and grace from God. At the same time, 
no confessor is allowed to reveal the slightest thing heard in confession, even should it 
cost him his life. It may be considered further that he who conceals a sin in confession, 
and thus obtains absolution by false pretences, receives no remission, but, on the con- 
trary, commits a new sin. “When man uncovers his sins, God covers them; when man 
conceals his sins, God reveals them,” says St. Augustine. Man can be deceived, but 
not God, the Omniscient; and who is ashamed to show his wounds to the physician? 
Why should it be a cause of shame to throw out the poison of sin by a sincere confession ? 
To sin only is shameful, to confess sin is not shameful. But if by all these reflections 
we are still unable to overcome ourselves so as to confess our sins to a certain confessor, 
we may seek another in whom we have confidence. 


SATISFACTION AFTER CONFESSION. 


Lx 


Satisfaction is the diligent performance of all the works of penance imposed upon 
us by the confessor. With this, however, a true penitent will not be satisfied; for in 
our times, on account of the weakness and little zeal of Christians, a light penance is 
imposed that they may not be deterred from the reception of the holy Sacraments. To 
avoid relapsing into sin, one must do penance, and bring forth worthy fruits (Luke 13:3), 
for God will only then give the grace to persevere. We satisfy God by fasting, prayer, 
almsdeeds, avoidance of the snares of the world, diffidence in ourselves, and especially 










251 


by patient endurance of the afflictions and sufferings which He imposes upon us. Those 
who have committed sin must do penance in this life or submit to everlasting penance 
in the next. 

Is the Heretic right in Asserting that Man does not need to render Satisfaction 
since Christ has rendered it Complete on the Cross ? 

He is entirely wrong. Christ on the cross did indeed render satisfaction for all the 
sins of the whole world, and man is not capable to atone for one single sin, but it does 
not follow from this that man is not required to do something. To render satisfaction 
means to perform a duty which has been neglected. Instead of obeying God, the sinner, 
by his sins, disobeys Him. Satisfaction for disobedience requires perfect obedience from 
the sinner: but this, because of his weakness and corruption, no man is able to render, 
therefore Christ rendered it for us by His perfect obedience even unto the death of the 
cross. But because Christ has been thus obedient for us, must we not be somewhat 
obedient also? or which is the same, because Christ for love of us has atoned for our sins 
by perfect obedience to His Heavenly Father, are we to do no penance for ourselves? 
It is precisely by this atonement made by Christ that we receive the power of rendering 
satisfaction. But for this we must, first of all, ask the grace, i. e., pray, to restrain our 
earthly desires, i. e., fast, and by means of active love (charity) make ourselves susceptible 
to this grace. St. Paul the Apostle, who calls himself the greatest of sinners, writes of 
himself : “ I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting 
of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh for his body, which is the Church” (Col. i: 24); 
and to the Corinthians he writes: “ But I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, 
lest perhaps, when I have preached to others (meaning penance and conversion), I 
myself should become cast away” (I Cor. 9: 27). Christ Himself did not censure the 
Ninivites for their fasting and their penance in sackcloth and ashes, but gave them as 
an example (Matt. 12: 41). In the Old Testament we find that even after remitting 
the sin, God imposed a punishment for it. Thus he let the child of king David die, as 
punishment for his adultery, even though He had forgiven the sin (II Kings 12 : 13, 14); 
thus Moses and Aaron, because they once distrusted God, were not permitted to enter 
the Promised Land (Num. 20: 24; Deut. 34: 4). According to this doctrine of the 
Bible, the Catholic Church teaches that there remains a temporal punishment which 
the sinner must expiate either in this world, or in the next, though on account of the 
infinite merits of Christ the guilt and eternal punishment of sin are taken away by 
absolution. In the earliest times of the Church certain works of penance were imposed, j 
which were then very severe, and in the course of time, owing to the indolence of the 
faithful, were much moderated. 


252 




s What is Matrimony ? 

ATRIMONY is the perfect, indissoluble union of two free persons 
j\ of different sex, for the purpose of propagating the human race, 
mutually to bear the burdens of life and to prevent sin (I Cor. g 

Who Instituted Matrimony ? 

God Himself, the Creator of all things (Gen. i: 27-28). 
He brought to man the helpmate, whom He formed from one 
of the ribs of Adam, that she who came from his heart, might never depart therefrom, 
but cling to him in the indissoluble bond of love (Gen. 2: 18, 24). To this original, 
divine institution Christ refers (Matt. 19: 4-6), and the Church declares the bond of/ 
marriage perpetual and indissoluble. 


Is Matrimony a Sacrament ? 

Yes; according to the testimony of the Fathers, the Church has held it such from 
the times of the apostles, which she could not do, had Christ not raised it to the dignity 
of a Sacrament. St. Paul even calls it a great Sacrament, because it is symbolical of the 
perpetual union of Christ with His Church; and the Council of Trent declares: “If 
any one says that Matrimony is not really and truly one of the seven Sacraments of 
the Church instituted by Christ, but an invention of men that imparts no grace, let him 
be anathema” (Cone. Trid., sess. 24, c. 1). 


What Graces does this Sacrament Impart ? 

The grace of preserving matrimonial fidelity inviolate; the grace of educating 
children as Christians; of patiently enduring the unavoidable difficulties of married 
life, and of living peaceably with each other. Married people are indeed greatly in need 
of these graces, in order to fulfill their mutual obligations. 








What Preparations are to be made to Receive the Grace of this Sacrament ? 

i. The first and best preparation is a pure and pious life., 2. The light of the Holy 
Ghost should be invoked to know whether one is caHe<|^fo this state of life. 3. The^ 
parents he father-confessor should be asked for acftftce. 4. The choice should be 
made ip regard to a Christian heart, and a gentle disposition rather than to beauty and 
wealth. 5. The immediate preparation is, to purify the conscience if it has pot, already 
been done, by a good general confession, and by the reception of the most holy Sacrament 
of the Altar. Before their marriage the young couple should ask their parents’ blessing 
should hear the ppptial Mass with devotion, with the intention of obtaining God’s grace v 
to begin their neftf st&te of life well, and finally they should commend themselve^pitfe 
Confidence to the detection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her spouse St. ' 


Why are there so many Unhappy Marriages ? 

Because so many people prepare the way by sins and vices, and continue to sin 
without interruption, and without true amendment until marriage, therefore always 
make sacrilegious confessions, even perhaps immediately before marriage. Besides this 
many enter the married life on account of carnal intentions, or other earthly motives; in 
many cases they do not even ask God for His grace; without any proper preparation 
for such an important, sacred act, on their marriage day they go to church with levity 
and afterwards celebrate their wedding with but little modesty. Is it any wonder 
that such married people receive no blessing, no grace, when they render themselves so 
unworthy ? 

Why did God institute Married Life ? 

That children might be brought up honestly and as Christians, and that they should 
be instructed especially in matters of faith; that married people should sustain each 
other in the difficulties of life, and mutually exhort one another to a pious life; and 
lastly, that the sin of impurity might be avoided. “For they who in such manner 
receive matrimony as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to 
give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule which have not understanding, over 
them the devil hath power ” (Tob. 6: 17). 


With what Intentions should the Married State be Entered ? 

With such intentions as the young Tobias and his bride had, who before the marriage 
ceremony, ardently prayed God for His grace, and took their wedding- -brbadefast in the 
fear of the Lord\Tob. 14- 15). Hence God’s blessing was with them until ' ''It 
Jll young people wppld/Onter the married state thus, it would certainly be holy, 
pleasing and blessedagjjmd the words of St. Paul^jjoken to wives, would come true unto 
them: “Yet she shall be saved by bearing children, if she continue in faith, and love, 
and sanctification with sobriety” (I Tim. 2: 15). Mm -m. ^ 

254 






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Why are the Bans of Marriage Published three times in Church ? 

That all impediments which would render the marriage unlawful may be made 
known. Such impediments are: Consanguinity, clandestine marriages, etc. Therefore, 
any one who is aware of such impediments, is bound to make them known to the pastor. 


Why is the Marriage Performed in the Presence of the Parish Priest? 

Because the Catholic Church expressly declares that those marriages which are not 
performed in presence of the pastor, or with his permission before another priest, and 
two witnesses, are null and void (Cone. Trid., sess. 24, c. 1); and because the blessing 
of the priest, which he imparts in the name of the Church, gives the couple, if they are 
in a state of grace, strength, fortitude and grace to be faithful to each other, to endure 
all trials patiently, and to be safe from all the influences of the evil enemy. 


Why do they join hands before the Priest, and two Witnesses ? 

By this they bind themselves before God and His Church to remain true to each 
other, and to be ready to assist each other in all adversities. The bridegroom puts a 
ring on the bride’s finger, which should remind her of her duty of inviolable fidelity; to 
this end the priest signs and seals this holy union with the unbloody Sacrifice of the 
New Law. 

Can the Bond of Marriage be Dissolved in the Catholic Church ? 

A valid marriage, contracted with the free consent of each of the parties, can accord- 
ing to the plain doctrine of the Scriptures, the constant teaching and practice of the 
Church, be dissolved only by the death of one of the parties. If the pope or a bishop, 
for important reasons, gives a divorce, this is only partial, and neither can marry again 
while the other lives. Such a marriage would not be valid. How pure and holy are 
the doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church in this, the most important and sacred 
of all human relations, preserving its inviolability and sanctity; while, on the contrary, 
by means of the wanton doctrine of the heretics, which for trivial reasons entirely 
dissolves the marriage contract, this sacred union is made the deepest ignominy of 
mankind, and the play-ball of human passions and caprice! 


What is thought of Mixed Marriages, or Marriages between Catholics and 

Protestants ? 


The Catholic Church has always condemned such marriages, because of the great 
dangers to which the Catholic party is unavoidably exposed as well as the offspring. 
Such marriages promote indifference in^matters of religion, by which the spiritual life 
of the soul is destroyed; they are a hindrg y e tc^ iomestic peace, cause mutual aversion, 


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, ^ -^ndal toc.sef , va«tgp|&ey interfere with tyie Ch 

iirbf the^h^Jdroin^e^eft^ri^er^ii, impossible, and they frequently lead to aposta 
id despair. But tne 'Catholic O&arQh^c^ndemns especially those mixed marriages, in 
which either all or a number of ther ^jlcfban^te^h rough t up in heresy, and she can neve^ 
bless and look upon those as her childreH^^^^ao not fear to withdraw themselves an 
their own children from the only saving fajfex^rmd expose them to the danger of eternal 
ruin. Therefore, those Catholics who enter the matrimonial union with Protestants, 
although the marriage if lawfully contracted is valid, commit a mortal sin if they permit 
their children to be brought up in heresy, and should it not be their full intention to 
bring up their children in the Catholic faith at the time of their marriage, they would 
commit a sacrilege. 

What should the Newly Married Couple do immediately after the Ceremony is 

Performed ? 

They should kneel and thank God for the graces received in this holy Sacrament, 
in such or similar words: “Ratify, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that which by Thy grace 
Thou hast wrought in us, that we may keep that which in Thy presence we have 
promised unto the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” That they may keep their promise 
made at the altar, they should always remember the duties laid down to them by the 
priest at the time of their marriage, and the exhortations which are taken from the 
epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians (Eph. 5 : 29, 31), wherein he instructs married people 
how they should comport themselves towards each other, and recalls to them as an 
example the union of Christ with His Church, and His love for her. To the husbands 
he says, they should love their wives as Christ loved His Church, for which He even gave 
Himself up to death; from this is seen, that men should assist their wives even unto 
death, in all need, and not treat them as servants. To the wives St. Paul says, that they 
as the weaker should be in all reasonable things obedient to their husbands, as the Church 
is obedient to Christ; for as Christ is the head of the Church, so is the husband the head 
of the wife. Experience proves there is no better way for women to win the hearts of 
their husbands than by amiable obedience and ready love, while, on the contrary, a 
querulous, imperative deportment robs them of their husbands’ affections, and even 
auses them to be regarded with aversion. St. Paul says further, that husbands should 
vgprove their wives (and consequently wives their husbands) as their own bodies, because 
lljpTnarried people are, as it were, one. “ They shall be two in one flesh ; no man ever hated 
his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ doth the Church” (Eph. 
29, 31). How unjustly and barbarously do those act who, instead of loving one 
other, rather hate and outrage each othe-ry, and ^cau$e the loss of their property, and 
by detraction steal their honor ! -'f'hq^do p^coi^ider^tliat' hq who hates and 
his partner in life, hates and^sgrab^M^^slfq/Wjile according to the words of St. Paul 

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unity, it is most necessary that they should patiently bear with each other’s infirmities, 
wrongs, and defects, exhort one another with mildness and affection, keep their adver- 
sities, trials and sufferings as much as possible to themselves, and complain in prayer 
only to God, who alone can aid them. By impatience, quarrels and complaints, the 
cross becomes only heavier and the evil worse. Finally, not only on their wedding-day, 
but often through life, they should earnestly consider, that they have not entered the 
married state that they may inordinately serve the pleasures of the body, but to have 
children who will one day inhabit heaven according to the will of God ; as the angel said 
to Tobias: “For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from 
themselves and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust as the horse and 
mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power’’ (Tob. 6 : 17). 


PRAYER. Most merciful Jesus! who didst work Thy first miracle at the wedding 
in Cana by changing water into wine, thereby revealing Thy divine power and majesty, 
and honoring matrimony: grant we beseech Thee, that Thy faithful may ever keep 
sacred and inviolate the holy sacrament of Matrimony, and that they may so live in it 
truthfully, in the fear of the Lord, that they may not put an obstacle in the way of 
obtaining heaven for themselves, and their children. 



257 


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Is Confirmation a Sacrament ? 


ES, for it has the three marks of a Sacrament: the visible sign, the invis- 
ible sanctifying grace, and institution by Christ. 


Did Christ Introduce this Sacrament ? 


j\ i ; Christ is the Author of this Sacrament, as He is of all the others, | 

with this difference only, as St. Thomas of Aquin says, that He insti- fjili 
tuted this only by promise, for it was necessary that He should die, should rise from <w 1 
the dead, and ascend into heaven (John 1 6 : 7) before giving the fullness of the Holy 
Ghost, in which consists the proper effect of this Sacrament. This, according to the 
tradition of the Fathers, is the doctrine of the infallible Church. Thus St. Clement, a l 
disciple of the apostles, writes that St. Peter taught him, and that the other apostles 
had also announced it, in accordance with the command of the Lord. That the/'V^ 
apostles administered this Sacrament by Christ’s command, is clear, from the Acts /via 
of the Apostles (8: 14-17), which state, that Peter and John laid their hands uponV M 
the newly baptized at Samaria, and prayed over them, thus imparting to them the gifts ( ( 

of the Holy Ghost, which St. Paul also did to the baptized at Ephesus (Acts 19:5, 6). 


What is the Visible Sign in Confirmation ? 

The imposition of the bishop’s hands, the anointing with holy chrism, and the 
words: “N. N., I sign thee with the sign of the cross, and confirm thee with the chrism 
of salvation, in the name of the Father, etc.” 


What Graces are Received in this Sacrament ? 


This Sacrament gives to those who have been baptized, the Holy Ghost with the 
plenitude of His gifts, and thus completes the grace of baptism^ for which reason con- 
firmation is also called by the holy Fathers: “ Completion.’//’ Sealing.” It especially 
gives strength to profess the faith firmly, and to live in accordance with it, and is there- 
fore called Confirmation from the Latin confirmare, to sfrengjffetp to confirm; it elevates 
man, who has by baptism become a child of God.-tffeAniSeeKgfiity of a soldier of Christ, 
enrolls him as a warrior under the banner of th@^da££irnprints upon him an indelible 










mark, and thus distinguishes him from those who have been baptized, but not confirmed, 
and can therefore be received but once. 

Who has Power to Administer Confirmation ? 

The ordinary ministers of this Sacrament are the bishops only; for according to 
the Acts of the Apostles (8: 16), only the apostles and their successors who are bishops, 
can impart the Holy Ghost by imposition of hands. 

What is the Holy Chrism which the Bishop uses in Confirmation ? 

The holy chrism which Christ commanded to be used in confirmation, consists of 
balsam and olive-oil mixed, and signifies the plenitude of grace which comes down from 
Christ through the Holy Ghost upon those to be confirmed; the balsam represents the 
good odor of the edifying life which those confirmed should lead, as said by the apostle: 
“We are a good odor of Christ” (II Cor. 2: 15); the balsam also indicates, that as the 
bodies of the dead are preserved from corruption when embalmed with it, so the soul 
by the heavenly grace obtained in confirmation, is preserved from the infection of sin. 

Why is the Forehead Annointed with Chrism in the form of a Cross ? 

To remind the Christian that he is never to be deterred by either shame or fear 
from the public acknowledgment of the name of Jesus, but must fight valiantly as a true 
soldier of Christ, under the banner of the cross, against all the enemies of his salvation. 

Why does the Bishop impose his hands upon those to be Confirmed ? 

This indicates that the actual imparting of the Holy Ghost is taking place (Heb. 6 : 2), 
and that the person confirmed is placed under God’s special protection. 

What Prayers are said by the Bishop while he imposes his hands upon those 

to be Confirmed ? 

The bishop repeats the following prayers: Almighty, eternal God, who hast deigned 
to regenerate these Thy servants by water and the Holy Ghost, who hast also granted 
them the remission of all their sins, pour out from heaven the sevenfold gifts of the Holy 
Spirit, Thy Paraclete. Amen. 

The spirit of wisdom and understanding. Amen. 

The spirit of counsel and of fortitude. Amen. 

The spirit of knowledge and of piety. Amen. 

Fill them with the spirit of fear towards Thee, and sign them with the sign of the 
cross of Christ, granting them eternal life, through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, 
who with Thee in the unity of the same God the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth for all 
etemitv. Amen. 



1 ) 


259 






Why does the Bishop ask especially for the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord ? 

Because the filial fear of the Lord is the foundation of all good, the beginning of 
all wisdom, the fountain of life, and gains for him who possesses it eternal happiness 
(Ps. m : i). 

• 

Why does the Bishop give those Confirmed a slight blow on the cheek ? 

To remind them that like Christ and the apostles, they must courageously bear 
all adversities and persecutions for the holy faith, and thus obtain that true peace which 
the bishop wishes them. 

Why do the Sponsors lay their right hand on the Shoulder of the one to be 

Confirmed ? 

To show that they are witnesses of the renewal of his faith; that they will exhort 
him, when necessary, to preserve the faith; that they will walk before him in the true 
path of virtue by good example. 

Is Confirmation necessary for Salvation ? 

It is not absolutely necessary for salvation, but he who having the opportunity 
would neglect to receive it, would commit a grievous sin, even a mortal sin, because 
he openly shows by this, that he has no regard for the assistance of the Holy Ghost. 
Baptism lays the foundation for the Christian religion, but confirmation crowns the 
work baptism has commenced, because in confirmation, as the Roman Catechism 
teaches, the form of a true Christian is perfected. 

What is Required of those who are to be Confirmed ? 

They must be in the state of grace, or purified by a good confession from the sins 
committed after baptism, for, to receive this Sacrament while in mortal sin, would be 
a sacrilege; they should be well instructed in the truths of faith, especially in those 
relating to confirmation ; they should have a sponsor or witness who has been confirmed ; 
they should arouse in themselves a great desire for the gifts of the Holy Ghost; they 
should receive the Sacrament with great reverence and devotion, and while being con- 
firmed should make the resolution to become and remain henceforth true, zealous 
Catholics; finally, those who are to be confirmed, should never forget that they must 
be present from the first imposition of hands by the bishop, because this is the especial 
sign to which the granting of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is annexed. It is seen from 
all this, that it is not advisable to allow infants to be confirmed, because they do not 
know what they receive, nor can they be properly prepared, and they can be saved 
even if they die without confirmation. 

260 






^ , What should be done after receiving Confirmation-?--- _ 

^^wso^onfinried Should remain in church some time, and thank the Holy Ghost, 
received; renew the promise to serve God faithfully henceforth, arid 
^preserve the faith. They should daily show themselves, by an edifying life^'to bfH 
Cajifmic Christians, and thus add to the truth that unbelievers may also see tnkfn 
m confirmation, and learn to love and respect a Church that gives such gloriou^g 
to her children. <?>*. 


PRAYER AFTER CONFIRMATION 


[To be said often during the year.] 

I thank Thee, O Holy Ghost, that Thou hast given me Thy grace in the Sacrament 
of Confirmation to strengthen me against all temptations and persecutions, and I most 
humbly beseech Thee that by Thy inward inspirations Thou mayst continually so urge 
jme on, that in all the dangers to my salvation, I may faithfully co-operate with the 
y graces I have received, and never from fear or false shame transgress the commandments 
of God and the Church. Let me die rather than ever offend Thee, O Holy Ghost, or 
refuse to heed Thy inspirations, or drive Thee from me by mortal sin. Amen. 



Baptism. 


' Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 

Holy Ghost.” — Matt, xxviii : 19. 

Is Baptism a Sacrament ? 

ES, because in it the baptized person receives the grace of God by means 
of an external sign, instituted by Christ. 

What is this External Sign ? 

The infusion, or the pouring of water, accompanied by the words: 
“ I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” 

What does the Baptismal Grace effect ? 

It removes original and actual sin, causing man to be spiritually born again, made 
a new creature, a child of God, and joint heir with Christ. 



How many kinds of Baptism are there ? 




There are three kinds: The baptism of desire, which consists in a heartfelt desire 
for the baptism of water, joined with a perfect love of God, or a perfect sorrow for sin 
committed, and with the purpose to obey all God’s commands; the baptism of blood, 
which is received by those who suffer martyrdom for the true faith, without having 
received the baptism of water; the baptism of water, which is the Sacrament of Baptism. 

What do the different Ceremonies of this Sacrament signify ? 

They are the external signs of the effects which baptism produces inwardly upon 
the soul, and should impress us with deep reverence for this Sacrament. 

Why is it Customary to have a Godfather or Godmother ? 

That there may be a witness that the child has received baptism ; that in case of the 
death of the parents, the sponsors may assume their place, and have the child instructed 
in the truths of religion. St. Augustine, speaking of the duties of sponsors, very beau- 
tifully says: “They should use all care, often to admonish in true love their godchildren 

262 














that they may strive to lead a pure life; they should warn them against all detraction, 
all improper songs, and keep them from pride, envy, anger, and revenge; they should 
watch over them that they may preserve the Catholic faith, attend the church services, 
listen to the word of God, and obey their parents and their pastors.” Sponsors must 
therefore be true believers, and of unquestionable morality. No one unless a Catholic 
can be chosen for a sponsor, because one who is not a Catholic would not instruct the 
child in the Catholic faith, or see that others do it, but would be more likely, as experience 
shows, to draw the child over to error. 

What results from this Sponsorship ? 

In baptism, as in confirmation, a spiritual affinity originates between the sponsors, 
the one who baptizes or confirms, with the one baptized or confirmed, and with the 
parents, so that, by a decision of the Church, a godfather or godmother cannot contract 
marriage with any of these parties, unless the impediment is removed by dispensation, 
that is, by a special permission received from a spiritual superior. But the sponsors 
have no spiritual relationship to each other. 

Why has the Church Instituted this Spiritual Relation ? 

From reverence for these Holy Sacraments, and that by this spiritual bond the 
sponsors may be more closely connected with their godchildren, and be incited earnestly 
to discharge their obligation. 

Why must the Person to be baptized wait at the Entrance of the Church ? 

To indicate that until he has thrown off the yoke of sin, and submitted to Christ 
and His authority, he is unworthy to enter, because baptism is the door of God’s grace, 
to the kingdom of heaven, and the communion of saints. 

Why does the Person receive a Saint’s name ? 

That by this name he may be enrolled, through baptism, into the number of Chris- 
tians whom St. Paul calls saints; that he may have a patron and intercessor, and that 
the saint, whose name he bears, may be his model and example, by which he may regulate 
his own life. 

Why does the Priest breathe in the face of the one to be Baptized ? 

In imitation of Christ, who breathed on His apostles when He gave them the Holy 
Ghost (John 20: 22). St. Chrysostom says that in baptism supernatural life is given to 
the soul as God imparted natural life to Adam by breathing on him. 

263 



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Why does the Priest impose his Hand so many times upon the Head of the 

Person to be Baptized ? 

To show that he is now the property of God and is under His protection. 


What do the many Exorcisms signify ? 

That the evil spirit who previous to baptism holds the person in bondage is now 
commanded in the name of God to depart, that a dwelling-place may be prepared for 
the Holy Ghost. 


Why is the Person so often Signed with the Sign of the Cross ? 

To signify that through the power of Christ’s merits and of His death on the cross, 
baptism washes away original sin ; that the person is to be henceforth a follower of Christ 
the Crucified, and as such must fight valiantly under the banner of the cross, against 
the enemies of his salvation, and must follow Christ on the way of the cross, even unto 
death. 

What does the Salt signify which is put into the Person’s mouth ? 

It is an emblem of Christian wisdom and of preservation from the corruption of sin/ 




Why are his ears and nose touched with Spittle ? 

That as Christ put spittle on the eyes of the man bom blind, thus restoring his sight, 
; so by baptism, the spiritual blindness of the soul is removed, and his mind receives light 
to behold heavenly wisdom. Also, as St. Ambrose says, the candidate is thus instructed 
to open his ears to priestly admonitions, and become a sweet odor of Christ. 


Why does the Priest ask: “ Dost thou renounce the devil, and all his works, 

and all his pomps ? ” 

That the Christian may know that his vocation requires him to renounce and 
combat the devil, his works, suggestions and pomps. Thus St. Ambrose very beautifully 
addresses a person just baptized: “When the priest asked, ‘Dost thou renounce the 
devil and all his works,’ what didst thou reply? ‘I renounce them.’ ‘Dost thou 
renounce the world, its lusts and its pomps?’ ‘I renounce them.’ Think of these 
promises, and let them never depart from thy mind. Thou hast given thy hand-writing 
to the priest, who stands for Christ; when thou hast given thy note to a man, thou art 
bound to him. Now thy word is not on earth, but preserved in heaven; say not thou 
knowest nothing of this promise; this exculpates thee no better than the excuse of a 
soldier who in time of battle should say he knew not that by becoming a soldier he 
would have to fight.” 

264 



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Why is the Person anointed on the shoulder and breast with Holy Oil ? 

As SS. Ambrose and Chrysostom explain, this is done to strengthen him to fight 
bravely for Christ; as the combatants of old anointed themselves with oil before they 
entered the arena, so is he anointed, on the breast, that he may gain courage and force, 
bravely to combat the world, the flesh, and the devil, and on the shoulder, that he may 
be strong to bear constantly and untiringly the yoke of Christ’s commands, and pursue 
the toilsome course of life in unwavering fidelity to God and His holy law. 

Why are the Lord’s Prayer, and the Apostles’ Creed said at Baptism ? 

That, when the child is a grown person, an acknowledgment of faith may by this 
means be made in the face of the Church; when children are baptized, these prayers 
are said by the sponsors, who are thus reminded to see that their godchildren are well 
instructed in these as in all other Christian truths. 

Why does the Priest expressly ask the Person if he will be Baptized ? 

Because as man, through Adam, of his own free will obeyed the devil, so now when 
he would be received among the number of Christ’s children, he must, to obtain salvation, 
of his own free will obey the precepts of God. 

Why is Water poured three times upon the Person’s head. 

This is done, as St. Gregory the Great writes, in token that man after this thrice- 
repeated ablution rises from the death of sin, as Christ, after His three days’ burial, rose 
from the dead (Rom. 6: 4, 5). In early times the candidate for baptism was immersed 
three times in the water. For many reasons this custom has been abolished. 

Why is the Person anointed on the top of the Head with Chrism ? 

This anointing is, so to speak, the crown of the young Christian. As in the Old Law 
the kings were anointed (I Kings 10: 1), as Jesus is the Anointed One, and as the Apostle 
St. Peter calls the Christians a “chosen race, a kingly priesthood, a holy people’’ (I Peter 
2 : 9), so the baptized by means of this unction is embodied in Christ, the Anointed One, 
and participates in His priesthood and kingly dignity. What an exalted position is 
the Christian’s! He is the anointed one of the Lord, and in a spiritual sense a priest, 
because he constantly brings himself to the Lord God as a pleasing sacrifice in prayer, 
mortification, etc. He is king when he rules over his inclinations, submits them to 
reason, and reason to the Lord. Besides this he is king by the claims which, through 
baptism, he possesses to the kingdom of heaven. Through the chrism he becomes the 
blessed temple of the Holy Ghost, the sacred vessel which in time, through communion, 

265 






will contain the precious body and blood of Christ. How does he desecrate this temple, 
when, by grievous sin, he tramples this exalted dignity under his feet and stains the 
temple of the Holy Ghost, his soul! 

What does the White Robe signify ? 

The holy Fathers teach that this represents the glory to which by baptism we 
are borne again; the purity and beauty with which the soul, having been washed from 
sin in the Sacrament of baptism, is adorned, and the innocence which the baptized 
should preserve through his whole life. 

Why is a Lighted Candle placed in his hand ? 

It is an emblem of the Christian doctrine which preserves the baptized from the 
darkness of error, ignorance, and sin, illumines his understanding, and leads him safely 
in the way of virtue ; it represents the flame of love for God* and our neighbor which 
the baptized should henceforth continually carry, like the five prudent virgins (Matt. 
25: 13), on the path to meet the Lord, that when his life is ended he may be admitted 
to the eternal wedding feast ; it signifies also the light of good example which he should 
keep ever burning. 


Who is the Minister of this Sacrament ? 

The ordinary minister is the priest of the Church; but in case of necessity anv 
layman or woman, even the father or mother, can baptize. Parents, however, should 
not baptize their own child unless no other Catholic can be procured. The reason why 
lay persons are permitted to baptize is that no one may be deprived of salvation. 

What must be observed particularly in private Baptism ? 

The person who baptizes must be careful to use only natural water, which must be 
poured on the child’s head, saying at the same time the words: I baptize thee in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; having at the same time 
the intention of baptizing as the Church does, in the manner required by Christ. 


266 








Infraction on tl)e Renewal of 
baptismal Vovs. 

LL the graces and dignities which we receive in baptism, God secures to 
us for the future, only on condition that we keep our baptismal 
vows. Every Christian in baptism makes a bond with God 
through the mediation of Christ, who has sealed it with His 
blood. This bond consists, on man’s part, in the promise to 
renounce forever the devil, all his works and all his pomps, that 
is, constantly to suppress the threefold lust of the eyes, the flesh, 
and the pride of life, by which the devil leads us to sin, and to 
believe all that God has revealed, and all that His holy Church 
proposes to our belief, and diligently and properly to make use of 
all the means of salvation. On the part of God this bond 
consists in cleansing us from all sin, in bestowing the gifts of the Holy Ghost, in adopting 
us as His children, and in the assurance to the inheritance of heaven. This bond will 
never be broken by God, who is infinitely true and faithful, but it is often violated by 
weak and fickle man. In compliance with the desire of the Church, we should often 
reflect upon it, and from time to time renew it in the sight of God. This should be 
done particularly before receiving the holy Sacrament of Confirmation, before first 
Communion, on the vigils of Easter and Pentecost, at the blessing of baptismal water, 
on the anniversaries of our baptism and confirmation, before making any solemn vow, 
before entering into matrimony and when in danger of death. This renewal of baptismal 
vows can be made in the following manner: Placing ourselves in the presence of God, 
we kneel down, fold our hands, and say with fervent devotion: 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator ot heaven and earth. 

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was born and suffered for us. 

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holv Catholic Church, the communion of saints, 
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. 

I renounce the devil, all his works and all his pomps. 

Christ Jesus! With Thee I am united, to Thee alone I cling, Thee only will 1 
follow, for Thee I desire to live and die. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

267 












Doctrine on tf)e tiol^ Trinity. 



V* * 

5 V** 


What is God ? 

OD is the most perfect being, the highest, best Good, who exists from 
all eternity, by whom heaven and earth are created, and from 
whom all things derive and hold life and existence, “for of Him, 
and by Him, and in Him are all things” (Rom. n : 36). 

What is the Blessed Trinity ? 

The Blessed Trinity is this one God, who is one in nature 
and threefold in person, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 


Is each of these three persons God ? 

Yes, because each of them has the divine nature and substance. 

Are there not three Gods ? 

No, because all three of these persons have one and the same divine nature and 
substance. 

Is any one of these three Persons Older, Mightier, or Greater than the other ? 

By no means, they are all three from eternity entirely equal to each other in divine 
omnipotence, greatness and majesty, and must, therefore, be equally adored and 
venerated. 

Ought one to give Himself up to the Investigation of the most Blessed Trinity ? 


No; “For,” says the saintly Bishop Martin, “the mystery of the Trinity cannot be 
comprehended by the human intellect, no one, however eloquent, can exhaust it; if 
entire books were written about it, so that the whole world were filled with them, yet 
the unspeakable wisdom of God would not be sxpressed. God who is indescribable, can 
in no way be described. When the human mind ceases to speak of Him, then it but 
begins to speak.” Therefore the true Christian throws his intellect under the feet of 
faith, not seeking to understand that which the human mind can as little comprehend, 
as a tiny hole in the sand can contain the immeasurable sea. An humble and active 
faith will make us worthy some day in the other world, to see with the greatest bliss 
this mystery as it is, for in this consists eternal life, that by a pious life we may glorify 
and know the only true God, Christ Jesus His Son, and the Holy Ghost. 

268 





Tl)e Aost MoIq sSacrament of tf)e Attar 


What is the Sacrament of the Altar ? 


T is that Sacrament in which, under the appearance of bread and 
wine, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are really, 
truly and substantially present. 


When and in what manner did Christ promise this 
Sacrament ? 


miracle, were anxious for this bread, and desired to make Him their king. But Jesus 
fled to a high mountain, and in the night went with His disciples to Capharnaum, 
which was a town on the opposite side of the sea; but a multitude of Jews followed Him, 
and He made use of the occasion to speak of the mysterious bread which He would one 
day give them and all men. He first exhorted them to not go so eagerly after the per- 
ishable bread of the body, but to seek the bread of the soul, which lasts forever, and 
which the Heavenly Father would give them, through Him, in abundance. This im- 
perishable bread is the divine word, His holy doctrine, especially the doctrine that Fie 
had come from heaven to guide us to eternal life (verses 25-38). The Jews murmured 
because He said that He had come from heaven, but the Saviour quieted them by show- 
ing that no one could believe without a special grace from His Heavenly Father (v. 43, 
44) that He was the Messiah, and had come from heaven. After this introduction, 
setting forth that the duty of faith in Him and in His divine doctrine was a spiritual 
nourishment, Christ very clearly unfolded the mystery of another bread for the soul 
which was to be given only at some future time, and this the Saviour did not ascribe 
to the Heavenly Father, as He did the bread of the drvine wo rd, but to Himself, by 
plainly telling what this bread was:*A| am^ke'lmng'brkad wlvlch came down from 
heaven. If any man eat of thi§.A?rg^d^^?sH^U live forever, and the bread that I will 
give, is my flesh for the (vMjfi, 52J. 





m 






But the Jews would not believe these words, so clearly expressed, for they thought 
their fulfillment impossible, and said: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 

(v. 53^/^ But Jesus recalled not His words, answered noHdhe Jews’ objections, 

which He Bad said, declaring with mdidajjjSemphasis : “Amen, amen, 

■ ' to except, you eat the flesh of the Son of Marf^mnd drink his blood, you shall 
ve life yo if. (v. 54). He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath 
sting life, and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesfl is meat indeed; 

^ ana my blood is drink indeed; he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blopd^bid^th 
in me,' and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live ;by the Fathd^/Sd 
that eateth me, tjke same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down.fron^,;; 
heaven. Not a&yoftiir fathers did eat manna, and are dead, fie that eate^-this.^^z^^^ 
./// shall live forever” (vs. 55-59). Jesus, therefore, said distinctly and plainl^'pjih^x'at a 
/^future time He/would give His own Body and Blood as the true nourishment of the>^ 
soul; besides, the Jews and the disciples alike received these words in their true, litera 
'Sense, and knew that Jesus did not here mention His Body and Blood in a figurative 
^pnse, but meant to give them His own real Flesh and Blood; and it was because they 
believed it impossible for Jesus to do this, and because they supposed He would give 
them His dead flesh in a coarse, sensual manner, that the Jews murmured, and even 
several of His disciples said: “This saying is hard, and who can hear it?” But Jesus 
persisted in His words: “My flesh is meat indeed,” etc., and calls the attention of His 
disciples to another miracle : to His future ascension, which would be still more incredible, 
but would come to pass; and by the words: “It is the spirit which quickeneth, the 
flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life” (v. 64), 

He showed them that this mystery could be believed only by the light and grace of the 
Holy Spirit, and the partaking of His Body and Blood would not be in a coarse, sensual 
manner, but in a mysterious way. Notwithstanding this, many of His disciples still 
found the saying hard, and left Him, and went no longer with Him (v. 67). They found 
the saying hard, because, as our Saviour expressly said, they were lacking in faith. He 
let them go, and said to Flis apostles: “Will you also go away?” thereby showing that 
those who left Him, understood Him clearly enough, and that His words did contain 
something hard for the mind to believe. The apostles did not leave Him; they were 
too well assured of His divinity, and that to Him all was possible, as St. Peter clearly 
expresses: “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And 
we have believed and have known that thou art Christ, the Son of God” (v. 69, 70). 

From the account given by St. John, it is plainly seen that Christ really promised 
to give us for our food His most precious Body and Blood, really ,a.p.d / ?pbstantiallj, 

, „ in a wonderful .^mysterious manner, and that He did not speak figuratively of faith xjcii 
^^im, as those assert who contemn this most Holy Secrament. If Jesus had so Ineati.t • 
it, He would Lave e^dained it thus to the Jews and to His disciples who took His w6rds' 
literally, and therefore could not comprehend how Jesus could give His Flesh and Blood 
to them for their food. But Jesus persisted in His wordsj that His flesh was truly food, 





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and His Blood really drink. He even made it the strictest duty for man to eat His 
Flesh and drink His Blood (v. 54); He shows the benefits arising from this nourishment 
of the soul (v. 55), and the reason why this food is so necessary and useful (v. 56). When 
His disciples left Him, because it was a hard saying, He allowed them to go, for they 
would not believe His words, and could not believe them on account of their carnal 
manner of thinking. This holy mystery must be believed, and cannot be comprehended. 
Jesus has then promised as the Catholic Church has always maintained and taught, 
that His body and Blood would be present under the appearance of bread and wine, in 
the Blessed Sacrament, a true nourishment for the soul, and that which He promised, He 
has really given. 

When and in what manner did Christ Institute the Most Holy Sacrament of 

the Altar ? 

At the Last Supper, on the day before His passion, after He had eaten with His 
apostles the paschal lamb, which was a prototype of this mystery, three Evangelists, 
Matthew (26: 26-29), Mark (14: 22-25), and Luke (22: 19-20), relate in few, but plain 
words, that on this evening Jesus took into His hand bread and the chalice, blessed 
and gave both to His disciples, saying: “This is my body, that will be given for you; 
this is my blood, which will be shed for you and for many.” Here took place in a 
miraculous manner, by the all-powerful word of Christ, the mysterious transformation; 
here Jesus gave Himself to His apostles for food, and instituted that most holy meal 
of love which the Church says contains all sweetness. That which three Evangelists 
plainly relate, St. Paul confirms in his first epistle to the Corinthians (11: 23-29), in 
which to his account of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament he adds: “Whosoever 
shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily (that is, in a state of sin), 
shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. . . . eateth and drinketh 

judgment to himself” (v. 27-29). 

From these words and those of the three holy Evangelists already mentioned, it 
is clear that Jesus really fulfilled His promise, really instituted the most holy Sacrament, 
and gave His most sacred Body and Blood to the apostles for their food. None of the 
Evangelists, nor St. Paul, informs us that Christ said: “This will become my body,” or, 
“ This signifies my body.” All agree that our Saviour said “This is my body, this is my 
blood,” and they therefore decidedly mean us to understand that Christ’s body and 
blood are really, truly, and substantially present under the appearance of bread and 
wine, as soon as the mysterious change has taken place. And this is confirmed by the 
words: “That is given for you; which shall be shed for you and for many; because 
Christ gave neither bread nor wine, nor a figure of His Body and Blood, for our redemp- 
tion, but His real Body, and His real Blood, and St. Paul could not assert that we could 
eat the Body and Blood of the Lord unworthily, if under the appearance of bread and 
wine, were present not the real Body and Blood of Christ, but only a figure of them, or 
if they were only bread and wine. Tlus J^also proved by the universal faith of the; 


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withoSeriptfe^^^nd the oldest, uri/nterrffpted 

S traditrojK,' 4 ^^|jal^a5£^^i€iAed and taught, that under the appearance 
wine theYfeial Body and Sffoo^Lofi Christ are present, as the Ecumenical Council 
of Trent expressly declares (Sess. ijx^g^s^de sacros Euchar): “All our ancestors 

who were of the Church of Christ^and l^^^Mken of this most Blessed Sacrament, * 
ffiave in the plainest manner professed tnatS^bur Redeemer instituted this wonderful 
Sacrament at the Last Supper, when, having blessed the bread and wine, He assured 
the apostles in the plainest and most exact words, that He was giving them His Body 
and Blood itself; and if any one denies that the holy Eucharist truly, really and sub- 
stantially contains the Body and Blood, the Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
therefore the whole Christ, and asserts that it is only a sign or figure without virtue, 
let him be anathema.” 

Did Christ Institute this Sacrament for all time ? 

n Yes; for when He had promised that the bread which He would give, was “ His flesh 
a or the life of the world ” (John 6 : 52), and had said expressly that whosoever did not eat 
His Flesh and drink His Blood would not have life in Him, He, at the Last Supper, by the 
words: “ Do this for a commemoration of me ” (Luke 22 : 19), gave to the apostles and their 
successors, the priests, the power in His name to change bread and wine into His Body and 
Blood, also to receive It and administer It as a food of the soul, which power the apostles 
and their successors, the priests, have always exercised (I Cor. 10: 16), and will exercise to 
the end of the world. 

How long after the Change does Christ remain Present under the Appearance 

of Bread and Wine ? 

As long as the appearances remain ; this was always the faith of the Church ; therefore 
Jn the primitive ages when the persecutions were raging, after the sacrifice the sacred body 
of our Lord was taken home by the Christians to save the mystery from the pagans ; at 
home they preserved It, and received It from their own hands, as affirmed by the holy 
Fathers of the Church, Justin, Cyprian, Basil, and others. But when persecution had 
ceased, and the Church was permitted to profess the faith openly, the Blessed Sacrament 
'Was preserved in the churches, enclosed in precious vessels (ciborium, monstrance, or 
^tensorium) made for the purpose. In later times it was also exposed, on solemn 
•xy/casions, for public adoration. 

Do we Catholics adore Bread when we pay Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament ? 

No; we do not adore bread, for no bread is there, but the most sacred Body and 
DRjod of Christ, and wherever Christ is adorat,ion. is-due Him by man and angels. St. 
(Augustine says: “No one partakes of^is BoD until heffias''first adored, and we not 
jjnly do not sin when We adomlt, but%qu^sinyif_^e did^mitadore It.” The Council of 
Trent excommunicates- thoseA^" 0 ass ? rt adore Christ, the only^ 


begotten Son of God, in the Blessed Sacrament. How unjust are those unbelievers who 
sneer at this adoration, when it has never entered into the mind of any Catholic to adore 
the external appearances of this Sacrament, but the Saviour hidden under the appearances ; 
and how grievously do those indifferent Catholics sin who show Christ so little veneration 
in this Sacrament, and seldom adore Him if at all ! 

Which are the External Signs of this Sacrament ? 

The form and appearance, or that which appears to our senses, as the figure, the 
color, and the taste, but the substance of the bread and wine is by consecration changed 
into the real Body and Blood of Christ, and only the appearance of bread and wine 
remains, and is observable to the senses. 

Where and by whom is this Consecration Effected ? 

This consecration is effected on the altar during the holy Sacrifice of the Mass 
(therefore the name Sacrament of the Altar), when the priest in the name and by the 
power of Christ pronounces over the bread and wine the words which Christ Himself 
pronounced when He instituted this holy Sacrament. St. Ambrose writes: “At the 
moment that the Sacrament is to be accomplished, the priest no longer uses his own 
words, but Christ’s words, therefore Christ’s words complete the Sacrament.” 

Is Christ present under each form ? 

Christ is really and truly present under both forms, in Divinity and Humanity, 
Body and Soul, Flesh and Blood. That Jesus is thus present is clear from the words of 
St. Paul: “Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dieth now no more” 
(Rom. 6: 9). Because Christ dies no more, it naturally follows that He is wholly and 
entirely present under each form. Hence the Council of Trent says: “Whoever denies 
that in the venerable Sacrament of the Eucharist the whole Christ is present in each of 
the forms and in each part of each form, where a separation has taken place, let him be 
anathema.” 

Then no matter how many Receive this Sacrament, does each receive Christ ? 

Yes, for each of the apostles received Christ entirely, and if God by His omnipotence 
can cause each individual to rejoice at the same instant in the sun’s light, and enjoy its 
entireness, and if He can make one and the same voice resound in the ears of all the 
listeners, is He not able to give the body of Christ, whole and entire, to as many as wish 
to receive It? 

Is it necessary that this Sacrament should be Received in both forms ? 

No, for as it has already been said, Christ is wholly present, Flesh and Blood, 
Humanity and Divinity, Body and Soul, in each of the forms. Christ promises eternal 

273 


r7 



of this bread, he 
)fjA le life of the world” 
v'ed this Sacrament only 
faithful, like the priests, 


i&^lL nourishes with His own 
pnfdj*? so long as we cooperate 
fus to a glorious resurrection 
possesses Him who is the 
fle that eateth my flesh, and 


Lite 


to the recipient also of one form when He sa 
shall live for ever, and the bread that I wifl*^&fis nay tie&n 
(John 6: 52). The first Christians, in tmfts pff fjprsecuubn, rec 
in the form of bread in their houses. Th^glf Jnskarlier times th 1 


partook of the chalice, it was not required, and the Church for important reasons 

has since ordered the reception of T^j&tnunion under but one form, because there wd 
danger that the blood of our Lord might be spilled, and thus dishonored ; because, as the 
Blessed Sacrament must always be ready for the sick, it was feared that the form of wine 
might be injured by long preservation; because many cannot endure the taste of wine, 
because in some countries there is scarcity of wine, and it can be obtained only at great 
cost and with much difficulty, and finally, in order to refute the error of those who denied 
that Christ is entirely present under each form. 

Which are the Effects of Holy Communion ? 

The graces of this most holy Sacrament are, as the Roman Catechism says, innumer- 
able; it is the fountain of all grace, for it contains the Author of all the Sacraments, 
Christ our Lord, all goodness and perfection. According to the doctrine of the Church, 
there are six special effects of grace produced by this Sacrament in those who worthily 
receive it. It unites the recipient with Christ, which Christ plainly shows when He says: 

“ He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me and I in him” (John 6 
57); hence the name Communion, of which St. Leo writes: ‘‘The participation of the' 
Body and Blood of Christ transforms us into that which we receive,” and from this union 
with Christ, our Head, arises also a closer union with our brethren in Christ, into one j 
body (I Cor. 10:17). It preserves and increases sanctifying grace, which is the spiritual 
life of the soul, for our Saviour says: “He that eateth me, the same also shall live by 
me” (John 6: 58). It diminishes in us concupiscence and strengthens us against the 
temptations of the devil. St. Bernard says: “This holy Sacrament produces two 
effects in us, it diminishes gratification in venial sins, it removes the full consent in 
grievous sins ; if any of you do not feel so often now the harsh emotion of anger, of envy, 
or impurity, you owe it to the Body and Blood of the Lord;” and St. Chrysostom: “When 
we communicate worthily we return from the table like fiery lions, terrible to the devils.” 
(It causes us to perform good works with strength and courage; for “ he who abides in 
Christ, and Christ in him, bears much fruit” (John 1 5). It effaces venial sin, and preserves 
from mortal sin, as St. Ambrose says: “This daily bread is used/as a help against daily 
weakness; and as by the enjoyment of this holy Sacrame#t//we are made in a special 


manner the property, the lamps of Christ, which He 
heart’s blood, He does not permit us to be taken out 
with His grace, by prayer, vigilance and contest, 
and to eternal happiness; for he who eommun^ 
‘resurrection and the life’ (John 11: 25), 


Hi 


of 


O O o 





SsJ 




drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day’” (John 
6: 55 )- He has, therefore, in Christ a pledge that he will rise in glory and live for ever. 
If the receiving of this Sacrament produces such great results, how frequently and with 
what sincere desire should we hasten to enjoy this heavenly banquet, this fountain of all 
grace! The first Christians received it daily, and St. Augustine says: ‘‘Daily receive 
what daily benefits!” and St. Cyril: ‘‘The baptized may know that they remove them- 
selves far from eternal life, when they remain a long time from Communion.” Ah, 
whence comes in our days, the indifference, the •yveakness, the impiety of so many Chris- 
tians but from the neglect and unworthy reception of Communion! Christian souls, 
close not your ears to the voice of Jesus who invites you so tenderly to His banquet: 
‘‘Come to me all you who are heavily laden and I 'will refresh you.” Go often, very 
often to Him; but when you go to Him, do not neglect to prepare for His worthy 
reception, and you will soon feel its effects in your soul. 

In what does the worthy Preparation for this Holy Sacrament consist ? 

The worthy preparation of the soul consists in purifying ourselves by a sincere 
confession from all grievous sins, and in approaching the holy table with profound 
humility, sincere love, and with fervent desire. He who receives holy Communion 
in the state of mortal sin draws down upon himself, as the apostle says, judgment and 
condemnation. The worthy preparation of the body consists in fasting from midnight 
before receiving Communion, and in coming properly dressed to the Lord’s banquet. 

The holy Sacrament of the Altar is preserved in the tabernacle, in front of which a 
light is burning day and night, to show that Christ, the light of the world, is here present, 
that we may bear in mind that every Christian congregation should contain in itself the 
light of faith, the flame of hope, the warmth of divine love, and the fire of true devotion, 
by a pious life manifesting and consuming itself, like a light, in the service of God. As a 
Christian, you must believe that under the appearance of bread Christ is really present 
in the tabernacle, and that He is your Redeemer, your Saviour, your Lord and King, 
the best Friend and Lover of your soul, whose pleasure it is to dwell among the children 
of men; then it is your duty often to visit Him in this most holy Sacrament, and offer 
Him your homage and adoration. ‘‘It is certain,” says St. Alphonsus Liguori, ‘‘that 
next to the enjoyment of this holy Sacrament in Communion, the adoration of Jesus in this 
Sacrament is the best and most pleasing of all devotional exercises, and of the greatest 
advantage to us.” Hesitate not, therefore, to practice this devotion. From this day 
renounce at least a quarter of an hour’s intercourse with others, and go to church to 
commune there with Christ. Know that the time which you spend in this way will be 
of the greatest consolation to you in the hour of death and through all eternity. Visit 
Jesus not only in the church, but also accompany and adore Him when carried in 
processions, or to sick persons. You will thus show your Lord the homage due to Him, 
gather great merits for yourself, and have the sure hope that Christ will one day repay 
you a hundredfold. 

275 





Tf)e I\o $ t MoIq sSacraroent of Extreme 
® ® ® Unction. « 


' He bound up his wounds pouring in oil and wine.” — Luke x : 34. 


HE conduct of the Samaritan in regard to the wounded man may 
be viewed as a figure of the holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction, 
in which Christ, the true Samaritan, by means of the holy oil and 
the prayer of the priest, His representative, dispenses His grace 
to the sick for the welfare of the soul and often of the body, 
provided the sick place no obstacle in His way. 


W 




Is Extreme Unction a Sacrament? 

Yes; because it was instituted by Christ, and by it grace 
is conveyed to the sick through an outward sign. 

Did Christ Institute this Sacrament ? 


He did, for He sent His disciples to anoint the sick with oil and heal them, as the 
Evangelist writes: “Going forth they preached that men should do penance: and they 
cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them’’ 
(Mark 6: 12-13). We must believe that this unction was not invented by the apostles, 
but ordained by the Lord. This is confirmed by the Council of Trent, which says (Sess. 
14, c. 1) : “ This sacred Unction of the sick was instituted by Christ our Lord, as indicated 
by St. Mark, but recommended to the faithful and promulgated by the Apostle St. James, 
a relative of our Lord.” “Is any man,” he says, “sick among you? let him bring in 
the priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the 
name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall 
raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven” (James 5 : 14-15). St. James 
could not have said this, if he had not known the institution and command of Christ: to 
it apostolic and uninterrupted tradition also gives testimony. 

276 





; v w 







What is the External Sign of this Sacram 


minting wini holy oil, which is blessed by the bishop on Holy Thursday 
faydr of the priest. 


What Graces does this Sacrament produce in the Sick Man ? 




The Catechism of the Council of Trent enumerates the following: First, it 
, especially venial sins. Its primary object is not to remit mortal sin. For this' 
Sacrament of Penance was instituted, as was that of baptism for the remission of original 
sin; secondly, it removes the languor and infirmity entailed by sin, with all other 
inconveniences. The time most seasonable for the application of this cure is, when we 
are visited by some severe malady, which threatens to prove fatal ; for nature dreads no 
earthly visitation so much as death, and this dread is considerably augmented by the 
recollection of our past sins, particularly if the mind is harrowed by the poignant 
reproaches of conscience; for it is written: “They shall come with fear at the thought 
of their sins, and their iniquities shall stand against them to convict them.” A source 
of alarm still more distressing is the awful reflection that in a few moments we shall stand 
before the judgment-seat of God, whose justice will award that sentence, which our lives 
have deserved. The terror inspired by these considerations frequently agitates the soul 
with the most awful apprehensions ; and to calm this terror nothing can be so efficacious 
as the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. It quiets our fear, illumines the gloom in which 
the soul is enveloped, fills it with pious and holy joy, and enables us to await with 
cheerfulness the coming of the Lord; thirdly, it fortifies us against the violent assaults 
of Satan. The enemy of mankind never ceases to seek our ruin; and if it be possible to 
deprive us of all hope of mercy, he more than ever increases his efforts, when he sees us 
approach our last end. This Sacrament, therefore, enables the recipient to fight resolutely 


% 


and successfully against him; fourthly, it effects the recovery of health, if advantageous 




to the sick person. 


What Intentions must the Sick Man have, in order to Gain these Graces ? 




Since the Sacraments work the more powerfully the better the preparation made 
by those who receive them, and since by this Sacrament those sins are remitted which we 
have forgotten, or have not sufficiently known, the sick man should, therefore, receive 
^beforehand, if it be possible, the holy Sacrament of Penance and the blessed Eucharist; 
or if this cannot be done, he should make an act of perfect contrition, and have the 
wish to confess if possible. He should, therefore, not defer the reception of this Sacrament 
to the last moment, when the violeneen^ickness has already taken away the use of his 





enjoying 







Is this Sacrament Necessary for Salvation ? 

No; yet we should not neglect in case of sickness to partake of the excellent fruits of 
this Sacrament since the Council of Trent teaches: “To despise so great a Sacrament 
would indeed be a great sin, an insult to the Holy Ghost” (Sess. 14, c. 3). 

Can we Receive this Sacrament more than once ? 

We can receive it as often as we are in danger of death by sickness; but we must 
bear in mind that we can be anointed only once in the same sickness. 

Why is this Sacrament called Extreme Unction ? 

Because among all the Sacraments which our Lord and Saviour ordained in His 
Church, this one is the last we are to receive. But from this it does not follow, as so 
many believe, that one who receives this Sacrament must die soon, but it will rather 
become a means of salvation for their souls, and if it be for their eternal welfare, will 
also restore their bodily health. 

What does the Priest do when he Enters the House of the Sick Person ? 



He wishes peace to the house, and prays that God may send His angels to protect 
its inmates, that He may drive away the enemy, console the sick, strengthen and g-ive 
him health. 


Why does the Priest Sprinkle the Sick Person with Holy Water? 






To remind him that he should implore of God the forgiveness of his sins, with tears 
of contrition, in order to dispel the influence of the evil spirit. 

Why does the Priest exhort those present to Pray while he Administers the 

Sacrament ? 

That God may grant through their prayers whatever may contribute to the welfare 
of the sick man’s body and soul. 

For what does the Priest Pray when he imposes his hands on the head of the 

Sick Person ? 

He begs that God, through the imposition of hands and by the intercession of all 
the saints, may take the sick person under His protection, and destroy the power of the 
devil, who attacks one particularly in the hour of death. 

278 








What does the Priest say at the Anointing with Oil ? 

He begs that God, through this unction and through His gracious mercy, may forgive 
the sick person of all the sins which he has committed with his five senses. At the same 
time the sick person should, in a spirit of humility and with a repentant and contrite 
heart, implore of God the forgiveness of all his sins. 

Why does the Priest Present the Sick Person a Crucifix to Kiss ? 

To remind him that, like Jesus, he should suffer with patience, and place his whole 
confidence in the infinite merits of the Crucified and be willing to suffer and die for love 
of Him. For this reason the crucifix ought to be presented often to the dying person. 

What should the Sick Person do after he has Received the Sacrament of 

Extreme Unction ? 

He should use all his remaining strength to thank God sincerely for the benefit he 
has received, commend himself to the wounds and the blood of Jesus, and meditate with 
quiet recollection on death and eternity. 


How consoling does our holy Catholic Church appear in the continual use of this 
Sacrament ! Having, like a tender mother, received man by holy Baptism under her 
maternal care; by holy Confirmation given him the necessary weapons against sin, 
heresy, and infidelity; by the holy Sacrament of Penance purified him from stains and 
sins; and by the blessed Eucharist nourished him with the bread of life, enriched him 
with virtues, and secured him against falling, she does not desert him even in the last, 
all-important moment of death. In that dangerous hour when the dying person, 
forsaken by all, often by his most intimate friends or looked upon with fear, lies on his 
bed of pain, when behind him time ceases and before him a certain, though unknown 
eternity opens itself, when Satan brings all his resources into play in order to ruin his 
soul, and the thought of the coming judgment makes the heart tremble, — in this terrible 
hour the faithful mother, the Catholic Church, does not abandon him; she sends the 
priest, her servant, like a consoling angel to his couch, to encourage the sufferer and 
strengthen the fearful with the divine word, to cleanse the sinner and reconcile him with 
God by the Sacrament of Penance, to fortify the weak and nourish him with the bread 
of life, to strengthen the combatant with the holy oil, thus providing him with all the 
means of grace which Jesus obtained for His Church, to conduct his soul before the face 
of the eternal Judge, there to find grace and mercy. 

Considering this, dear Christian, should you not feel happy to be a member of this 
Church, should you not thank God continually and adhere faithfully to a Church in 
which it is indeed not so pleasant to live, as in the bosom of irreligion, but in which it is 
good to die ! 

279 





• « .... „"i_; 


Tl)e Sacrament 


of Hol^ Order. 


Go, show yourselves to the priests." — Luke xvii: 14. 


UCH honor did God show to the priests of the Old Law that He sent 
- 1 the lepers to them, although they could in no wise contribute to the 
■'* . removal of leprosy. What honor, therefore, do the priests of the 
New Law deserve, who through the sacerdotal ordination, have not 
only received from God the power to free mankind from the leprosy. 
..a of the soul, but also far higher privileges. 


I “ Is the Priesthood a Special and Holy State, selected by God ? 

* Yes; this is evident from the writings of the Old as well as os 

the New Testament, and is confirmed by holy, apostolic tradition. 
In the Mosaic Law God Himself selected a particular race — 
Aaron and his descendants — from among the tribes of Juda, to perform solemnly the 
public service, to pray for the people, and instruct them in matters of religion 
(Exod. 28:1; Lev. 9:7; Kings 2 128), but particularly to offer the daily sacrifices 
(Lev. 1 : 11 ; Num. 18), for which offices they were consecrated by different ceremonies, 
ordained by God, which ceremonies lasted seven days (Exod. 28:4; etc., ib. 29) Besides 
these, God instituted a sort of minor priesthood, Levites, for the service of the temple and 
of God (Num. 3: 12; 8: 6-18); they were of the tribe of Levi, and received no land like 
the other tribes, but lived on the offerings and tithes, and were consecrated like the priests 
(Num. 18: 21 ; 8: 6-26). This priesthood, an emblem of the real priesthood of the New 
Testament, was not abolished by Christ, but He brought it to its fulfilment and completed 
it, since He did not come to take away, but fulfill the law. For this reason Christ selected 
twelve apostles and seventy-tw r o disciples from among the faithful, at the commencement 
of His public life, and He said to them: “I have chosen you, and have appointed you, 
that you should go, and should bring forth fruit” (John 15: 16). He gave them power 
to free man from sin, to sanctify and reconcile him with God (Matt. 18: 18). He com- 
manded them to preach His gospel to all nations (Matt. 28: 18-20), and to offer up His 
holy sacrifice (Luke 22: 19). Just as the apostles were chosen by Christ, so afterwards' 
by the Holy Ghost St. Paul was chosen to be an apostle, and he calls himself a minister 
of Christ and a dispenser of the mysteries of God (I Cor. 4: 1), and who together with 

280 







(1| 
\\-3 



iL'sj 


Barnabas was ordained (Acts 13: 2-3). In the same manner the apostles chose their 
successors, and ordained them (I Tim. 4: 14; II Tim. 1: 6), and even appointed seven 
deacons as assistants in the priestly office (Acts 6: 1-3). From these clear testimonies 
of holy Writ it is evident that, as God in the Old, so Christ in the New Testament chose 
a particular class of men and established certain grades among them for the government 
of His Church, for the service of God, and the salvation of the faithful, as holy apostolic 
tradition also confirms. Already the earliest Fathers, Ignatius and Clement, disciples of 
the apostles, write of bishops, priests, and deacons who are destined for the service of God 
and the faithful. Subdeacons, ostiariates, lectors, exorcists, and acolytes, are mentioned 
by St. Gregory of Nazianzen, St. Justin, St. Cyprian, and many others, but particularly 
by the Council of Carthage in the year 398, which also gives the manner of ordaining 
priests. 

The heretics, indeed, contend that the Roman Catholic Church robs the true believers 
of their dignity, since she grants the priesthood only to a certain class, and give as proofs 
of their assertion two texts, where St. Peter (I Pet. 2 : 9) calls the faithful a kingly priest- 
hood, and where St. John (Apoc. 1 : 6) says that Christ made us kings and priests. But 
these texts speak only of an internal priesthood according to which every Christian 
sanctified by baptism, who is in a state of grace and consequently justified, and a living 
member of Christ, the great High- Priest, should offer spiritual sacrifices, that is, good 
works, such as prayer, mortification, charity, penance, etc., on the altar of the heart, as 
also St. Peter (I Pet. 2: 5), St. Paul (Rom. 12: 1), and David (Ps. 50: 19) teach. If the 
assertion of the heretics were true that all believers are priests, why did God in the 
Old Law institute an especial priesthood, why did Christ and the apostles choose 
suitable men for the service of God? If all believers must be priests, why are not all 
kings, since St. John says, that Christ has made us kings? God, on the contrary, 
severely punished those who presumed to arrogate to themselves a priestly office, as 
He did to King Ozias, who was afflicted with leprosy because he burnt incense in the 
temple, which the priests alone were permitted to do (II Paralip. 26: 18-19). 

Of course heretics must make this assertion ; for since they say that Scripture is the 
only rule of faith, and that every one can explain it, for what purpose are preachers 
necessary? And since they have no sacrifice, and with the exception of baptism, no 
Sacraments, for what purpose should they want priests? But since the sacrifice of Jesus 
is to continue in the Catholic Church until the end of time, since all her Sacraments 
instituted by Christ are still dispensed by her, and the command of Christ to teach all 
nations must be carried out by her, therefore, there must be priests chosen and destined 
who will perform the ministry of the Lord, and these must not only be chosen but also be 
consecrated for this by a special Sacrament. 

What is Holy Order ? 

Holy Order is a Sacrament by which Bishops, Priests, etc., are ordained, and receive 
grace and power to perform the duties belonging to their charge. 

281 




I 

M 


Y4- 


m 




>f ^ 

- st „ 


What is the External Sign, by which Grace is Communicated to the Priests ? 

The imposition of the bishop’s hands, the presentation of the chalice with bread and 
wine, and the words by which power is given to offer the Sacrifice of the New Law, 
changing bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and to forgive or retain sins 
(Cone. Flor. in Deer. Eug. et Trid. Sess. 14, c. 3 ; de poen. et Sess. 22, c. 1). 

When did Christ Institute this Sacrament ? 

At the Last Supper, when, having changed bread and wine into His body and blood, 
He said: “ Do this for a commemoration of me,” and when after His Resurrection He said 
to them: ‘‘As the Father hath sent me, I also send you” (to free man from sin and to 
sanctify him). “When he had said this he breathed on them: and he said to them: 
“ Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John 20: 21-22). The power to forgive and retain sins He 
gave them when He said: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and 
whose sins you shall retain, they are retained ” (John 20 : 23). 

Has Holy Order always been regarded as a Sacrament in the Church ? 

Yes, for St. Paul admonishes his disciple Timothy (I Tim. 4: 14) not to neglect the 
grace conferred upon him by the imposition of hands, and in another place he admonishes 
him (II Tim. 1 : 6), to stir up the grace which was in him by the imposition of his (St. 
Paul’s) hand. From this it follows, that St. Paul believed that the external sign of the 
imposition of hands of the bishops conferred a particular grace, wherein, indeed, the 
essence of a Sacrament consists. Therefore the Council of Trent (Sess. 23, de ord. can. 3) 
declares those anathema, who contend that Holy Order is not a real and true Sacrament 
instituted by Christ, but only a human invention or a certain form of electing the ministers 
of the Word of God and the Sacraments. 

Are those called to the Priesthood Ordained at once ? 

No, they are not admitted to Holy Order until they have undergone a rigid examina- 
tion regarding their vocation, moral conduct, and their knowledge of the sacred science. 

How many Degrees are there in Holy Order ? 

In Holy Order there are seven degrees: four lesser, and three greater. Of the lesser, 
the first is that of Porter, whose office is to keep the keys of the Church, sacristy, treasury, 
and to see that due respect is observed in the house of God: to him the bishop says, in his 
ordination: “ So behave yourself as to give an account to God of what is kept under vour 
charge.” 2. That of Lector; his office is to read aloud the lessons of the Old and New 
Testament, which belong to the divine office, and to instruct the ignorant in the rudiments 
of the Christian religion : the bishop gives him a book containing those things, and charges 

282 





him faithfully and profitably to fulfil his office. 3. That of Exorcist; to him is given 
power to exorcise possessed persons: the bishop gives a book of exorcisms, and bids him 
receive the power to lay his hands on such as are possessed, whether baptized or cate- 
chumens. 4. That of Acolyte; his office is to assist the deacon and subdeacon at the 
altar; to carry the lights, to prepare the wine and water for consecration, and attend to 
the divine mysteries: the bishop gives him a wax candle, with two little cruets, bidding 
him light the candle, and serve wine and water in the cruets. 

The first of the greater is the order of Subdeacon ; he serves the deacon ; prepares the 
altar, the chalice, the bread, and the wine; he reads the epistle aloud at high Mass; the 
bishop before he ordains him declares that none are to receive this order, but those who 
will observe perpetual continency; he then gives him a chalice, paten, basin and towel, 
two little cruets, and the book of epistles; bids him consider his ministry and behave, 
so as to please God. The second of the greater orders is that of Deacon; his office is 
immediately to assist the bishop or priest at high Mass; and the administration of the 
sacraments. He reads the Gospel aloud at high Mass; he gives the cup when the 
sacrament of the Eucharist is given in both kinds; he may administer baptism, and 
preach the Gospel, by commission. To him the bishop gives a book of Gospels, with 
power to read it in the Church of God. The third is that of Priesthood, which has two 
degrees of power and dignity: that of bishops, and that of priests. The office of a priest 
is to consecrate and offer the sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ under the forms of 
bread and wine; to administer all the sacraments, except Confirmation and Holy Order; 
to preach the Gospel, to bless the people, and to conduct them in the way to life eternal; 
as also to bless such things as are not reserved to the benediction of the bishop. The 
bishop, when he ordains a priest, anoints his hands with oil; he gives him the paten with 
bread upon it, and a chalice with wine, with power to offer sacrifice for the living and the 
dead; then he lays his hands upon him, and says: “ Receive the Holy Ghost, whose sins,” 
etc., and performs several other ceremonies. 

Learn from this instruction to honor and respect the priests, whose dignity as 
representatives of God, and dispensers of His mysteries, surpasses all human dignity; 
upon whom a load, too heavy even for angels, as St. Chrysostom says, has been imposed, 
namely, the care of your immortal soul; who daily enter the sanctuary before the face 
of the Lord, to offer the immaculate Lamb of God for the forgiveness of our sins; to 
whom Jesus confided the merits of His most precious blood, in order to cleanse your soul 
therewith in the tribunal of penance, if you confess your sins contritely; of whom God 
will one day ask the strictest account. Honor, therefore, these ministers of God, pray 
daily for the assistance of heaven in their difficult calling; particularly on the Ember-days 
implore God, that He may send pious and zealous priests; and if, perhaps, you know a bad 
priest, do not despise his high dignity which is indelibly imprinted on him, have com- 
passion on him, pray for him, and consider that Jesus has said of such: ‘‘All things 
whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do: but according to their works do ye 
not” (Matt. 23: 3). 

283 





W 






TI)e Ceremonies Used at Funerals. 

“Behold, a dead man wai carried out, the only son of his mother,— and a great multitude of the city was with 

her." — Luke vii : 12. 

F these people who accompanied the funeral of the youth, we should 
learn to pay the last honors to the dead, and follow their bodies 
to the grave. This is a meritorious work, one pleasing to God, 
if it be not performed from vanity and self-interest, but for love 
of God and the deceased, with the charitable intention of assist- 
ing him by prayers. Therefore those do very wrong, who from 
worldly motives either omit this good work entirely or during the 
funeral procession indulge in idle talk and deny the deceased even 
a short prayer. 


Why is a Cross carried before the Corpse ? 

By this is indicated that the deceased during life professed Christ, died believing in 
Him, and hoping for resurrection through Him. 

Why are lighted Candles carried before the Bier ? 

To represent the desire of the Church that the deceased through the grace of God 
may be received into eternal light. This custom is very ancient; wax candles and 
torches, together with prayer and great solemnity were made use of at the burial of 
St. Cyprian who was beheaded for Christ’s sake, in the year 258 after Christ (Ruinart). 

Why are the Coffin and the Grave sprinkled with Holy Water ? 

In order, as St. Thomas of Aquin (Lib. 3, art. 21) remarks, to implore God, on account 
of the prayers which the Church says when she blesses the water, that the souls of the 
faithful may be cleansed from all stains, and may receive consolation and refreshment in 
the tortures which they may still have to suffer. 

Why are the Body and the Grave Incensed ? 

By this the Church indicates that the deceased by his Christian vocation was a good 
odor of Christ (II Cor. 2: 14-15), and admonishes the faithful that their prayers should 
ascend like incense to heaven for the deceased. 

284 







This is done to remind us of tKe teaching. of' St. Paul (I Thess. 4: 12), not to be 
excessively sorrowful for the loss of the deceased, like the heathens, who have no hope of 
eternal life. We also signify, thereby, that we congratulate the dead for the peace which 
they now enjoy (Apoc. 14: 13). This custom, as St. Jerome shows (Ep. 53), is derived 
from the apostles, who interred St. Stephen, singing Psalms and hymns of praise. 

Why are the Bells rung ? 

To invite the faithful to the funeral and to pray for the dead who, during lifetime, 
“was called very often by the same bells, prayed with and for us during religious worship, 
and who is not separated from us by death. 

Why are the bodies of the Faithful buried with the head towards the East and 
those of the Priests towards the West ? 

The faithful are buried towards the East, whence the sun rises, to indicate that they 
are waiting for Christ who is called the Orient from on High (Luke 1: 78), and whose 
voice they will hear at the end of the world, when He calls them to the resurrection; the 
priests towards the West, as a sign that on the day of judgment they will be placed opposite 
to the souls confided to them, to give an account of their charge and to bear judgment for 
or against them. 

Why is a Cross or Monument erected over the Grave ? 

To show that the deceased was a follower of Christ, the Crucified, to admonish the 
passers-by to pray for him, and to remind us of the solemn moment of death. 

Why is the Body laid in Consecrated Ground ? 

This is done through reverence for the bodies of the dead which are, by baptism, 
temples of the Holy Ghost; to show that, even in death, they still belong to the commu- 
nion of that holy Church in which they were embodied during life by baptism, and to 
which they clung in faith even until death ; to inspire the surviving with a holy fear lest 
they profane graves. 

Why is the solemn Funeral Service of the Church denied to Heretics ? 

Because they would not belong to the Church during life, and despised the holy 
customs and prayers of the Church for the dead. How should the blessing and prayer of 
the Church be useful in death to one who despised them during life. 

Why does not the Church permit^riminais-and^uicideS^o be buried in 

Consecrated (Ground ? 

In order to express ltet^ofroj^dr the ewmes perpetrated by them, and to deter the 
.faithful from committing si^plac^actions. ^ 








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'J/r I A plain. of"STfaroS Alter Jour hdur^ 'travehng'TTaml^d |7 reached 

. y.'*- Arimathaa, now Solace ijled with ruin's of its bygone splendor. Two miles further 
- [> , through orange groves, and he arrive^at^ydda. This is the town where St. Peter healed 

the paralytic Aeneas, and whenc^ ha'SteliecP on to Joppe to recall from death the/ 
maiden Tabitha. At present Lydda is a 3,000 inhabitants. Here also are to be* 

/ 1 seen the grand ruins of the Church of St. Gedfge' which the early Christians had built over 
1*4.. > the grave of that holy martyr. From Lydda the pilgrim pursues his way on a turnpike 
road through a gently rolling plain until he reaches the mountains of Judea. Here 
nothing meets the gaze but towering crags and barren rocks; the further he penetrates 
,\ into these highlands, for mountains they can hardly be called, the more uninviting 
1 becomes the scenery; even the valleys are void of either trees or plants. Up and down 
> ' the way continues, over rocky hill-crest, through gloomy ravines, until at last after a 
®f/ tiresome ride of twenty-five miles the last summit is reached. 

’ On a sudden the scene is changed, and desolation gives way to beauty, as the fair 
£ ./peak of the Mount of Olives rises into view. In the south and close to the horizon are 
j J seen the hills of Bethlehem ; towards the east appear the gray outlines of the Moab 
' Mountains pointing out the location of the Dead Sea. A few steps more and' Jerusalem, 

<^>7 the Holy City, bursts on the sight, bathed in all the glory of the setting sun. An inde- 
) O / . j scribable thrill touches the heart of the pilgrim as he gazes upon the towers of this once 
y&tk • mighty city; involuntarily he falls upon his knees, and kissing the ground sheds tears of 
devotion. The wished-for object of the journey is reached and the pilgrim enters the city. 

Jerusalem at the time of Abraham was called Salem, and here resided the priest-king 
J Melchisedech. Among the Jebusites it was styled Jebus; afterwards it became known as 
Jerusalem, “the dwelling of peace.” From the fact that the Ark of the Covenant was 
4 here deposited and that it contained the temple of Jehovah it was named “City of God,” 
^ : ' “ Holy City,” “ City of the Great King.” 

It was then, as now, built upon four hills. The highest point is Mount Sion. Around 
\\ it, on its slopes, is clustered that portion of the city known as the City of David. On this ' 

yy mount the Ark was kept previous to the erection of the temple. The hill Moria, whereon 

<§jj, 7 stood the temple of Solomon, is next in height. Northeast of Sion rises the summit of 

1 Akra, and north of Akra is Bezetha. On this hill the new city was built in aftertimes, j 

! 1 ^This majestic city seated upon four hills was surrounded in the days of her pride by 
^s^^ipassive walls and strong towers; she also claimed at the time of her first siege 600,000 
'^l^^^flnhabitants, whilst now she has only 17,000. 

Our Redeemer foretold the destruction of this proud city because it did not profit of 
the time of its visitation by His grace. In the year 70 Titus, son of the Roman Emperor 
^ JYespasian, marched with an army against Jerusalem and fulfilled the punishment 
( Indicted to that godless and deicidai>city. After a fearful and very obstinate siege he 

y conquered it, burned^ the .temple, killed the inhabitants and led 97,000 of them int(x 

^ captivity. The city was razed, only a few towers were left standing as a monument of 


irmel 












when in the year 130 A. D. the Emperor Adrian, whA^ia 33 ^ 5 ^^€M y city and called it 
Aelia Capitolina, prohibited circumcision amornyp^fie Je^sy^ndr^verywhere favored 
idolatry, the last fearful revolt broke outii^XkdT^qman Sonifnander of the army, Severus, 
now turned the whole land into a desert, and upcfe pain of capital punishment prohibited 
itho Jews to reside in Jerusalem. In Uyejrolyx'ity a Christian congregation had already 
'been formed, whose first bishop wawj«frpes the apostle. This congregation had much* 
to suffer from the tyranny of the Roman emperors, until finally, through the Emperor 
Constantine, protection and free practice of religious duties were granted to the 
Church. This emperor and his mother Helena caused more than thirty churches and 
chapels to be built on those sanctified places in the Holy Land. And henceforth many 
Christians from the West made pilgrimages thither. These pilgrimages, however, ceased, 
almost altogether, when the Saracens had conquered the Holy Land and planted on its 
soil the crescent instead of the cross. The Christians w r ere cruelly oppressed and their 
churches desecrated. Therefore the Christian nations of the West rose up to free 
Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the hands of the Mohammedans. The crusades 
commenced, and Godfrey of Bouillon took the Holy City in 1099 by storm. Not even 
150 years the holy places remained in the hands of the Christians, who, sad to tell, 
desecrated by many sins the holy sepulchre of Him in whom they believed. The 
Turks again became the masters of the Holy Land, and have it in possession to the 
present day. The Christians who live there and those who come on pilgrimages hither 
are, however, not exposed to so many oppressions as formerly; they possess many holy 
places although dependent upon the Turks, and the pilgrims may visit them without 
molestation. 

THE STONE OF UNCTION. 


The grand purpose for which the journey has been undertaken is to visit the Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre. This church stands in the northwestern part of Jerusalem upon 
a hill known in those days as Golgotha,* and which at the time of Christ was outside the 
city. It includes under one large roof three of the oldest churches besides surrounding 
chapels. The churches are those of the Resurrection, or more properly that of the 
sepulchre, of the Crucifixionf and of the Finding of the Cross. J Entering the portal and 
passing by a group of Turkish soldiers, the pilgrim sees before him the Stone of Unction 
fiuirrounded by large candlesticks. This stone is in the centre of the hall, having been 
Spared by the fire of 614 A. D., when the sepulchre was burned and Zacharias the patriarch 
of Jerusalem taken away captive. It is honored as the spot whereon Christ’s body was 
laid and anointed by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus preparatory to burial. At the 
right of this hall is the rock of Calvary or Golgotha enclosed b>vk 4 tone wall and covered by 

A iby 

* Golgotha is the modern Calvary. It received the name Golgotha/ i^jiibfkSlgijiftes the place of a skull, from 
an old tradition that says, the skull of Adam was here deposited by 

f This stands upon the spot where the cross was placed wlte^jClfcMi^^®aiIed to it. 

J Erected over the place where the true cross was found by toe yEmpressjielena. 










a chapel. A flight of 18 steps leads up to it. This chapel is divided into two apartments; 
the northern one marking the place where the cross rested when they were nailing Christ 
thereon, the southern one commemorating the spot where it was erected. A round 
silver-framed opening in the floor of this division, near the foot of the crucifix and 
crowned with a little canopy, indicates the exact spot where the cross stood. Near it is 
the rent in the rock produced by the earthquake at the death of Christ. This rent is 
about eight inches wide and runs down to a depth of twenty feet so that it may be seen in 
the chapel of Adam which is a cove directly beneath this. Two round black stones mark 
the places of the crosses of the two thieves. Leaving this chapel and descending the 
stairs by which he came, the pilgrim passes to the opposite side of the hall, and enters the 
church of the sepulchre proper. This church, in the form of a rotunda, consists of r.n 
immense dome resting upon sixteen marble columns. Underneath this dome is an oblong 
building rounded off at the back, and surrounded by a small cupola. It is constructed of 
a reddish colored marble brought from the Red Sea and encloses the rock wherein lies the 
Holy Sepulchre. Hanging down from a gallery encircling the centre of the large dome 
and fastened to the top of the chapel are generally seen curtains of silk bearing repre- 
sentations of the resurrection and the ascension of our Saviour. Entering the ante-chapel 
or chapel of the angel, and viewing the stone whereon the angel sat when he announced 
the resurrection to the holy women, we pass through a narrow door about four feet high, 
into the Holy Sepulchre itself. This cave is so small that it will scarcely hold four 
persons. It is illuminated by more than fifty lamps. The marble sarcophagus that 
contained the dead body of our Lord is about six feet long by three wide, and it has the 
shape of an altar. Mass is daily said here by the Franciscans who have charge of this 
holy shrine. Leaving the Sepulchre and the Chapel of the Angel we go westward and 
reach the altar commemorating the spot where Christ appeared to Mary Magdalen after 
the resurrection, and then we enter the chapel of the apparition to Mary, venerating the 
place where the risen Saviour appeared to His beloved Mother. At the right of the 
entrance is shown a portion of the column at which Christ was scourged. Passing on 
further we reach a chamber called the prison of the Lord, because here our Lord was kept 
until the hole for the foot of the cross was dug. Coming down from the Golgotha church 
into the church of the sepulchre we find on the right the Chapel Derision, containing 
the stone upon which Jesus sat when crowned with thorns; here He suffered the indig- 
nities and the mockeries of the soldiers. From it we reach a subterranean chapel 
dedicated to St. Helena, and a flight of thirteen steps takes us to the chapel of the Finding 
of the Cross (a little rocky space somewhat illuminated), where the cross of Christ was 
found. Ascending from these chapels into the church we pass the place where lots were 
cast for the garments of our Lord. 

Having passed through the holy places of the Church of the Sepulchre we will now 
enter on the way upon which our Saviour carried the cross to Mount Calvary. It is 
called the Via Dolorosa, the sorrowful way. Its length is about seven hundred yards, 
ieces of columns and stones erected mark the stations of the passion of our Lord. The 


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way of the cross begins at the judgment hall of Pilate. Even in our times a building is 
pointed out which is said to be Pilate’s judgment hall, and also the arch of the terrace is 
shown from which Pilate exhibited to the people our Saviour crowned with thorns, 
scourged and mocked ; Pilate pointing at Him said : ‘ ‘ Ecce homo ! ” “ Behold the man ! ’ ’ 
Opposite the house of Pilate stands the beautiful Church of the Scourging. Here the 
street turns and we approach the station where our Saviour met His sorrowful mother; 
at a little distance on is the place where Simon of Cyrene assisted our Redeemer in 
carrying the cross. Now we ascend the hill, and we come to the house of Veronica and 
the places where Jesus fell under the weight of the cross, and spoke to the weeping 
women of Jerusalem. The rest of the stations are within the church of the Sepulchre. 
This way of the cross was undoubtedly first visited by the Mother of Jesus, and since 
then thousands and thousands have imitated her example and have moistened these 
holy spots with tears of repentance, love and gratitude. 

Besides the way of the cross the pilgrims also visit the holy places in the neighbor- 
hood of Jerusalem. Having crossed the bridge of the brook Cedron, we behold the 
sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin, which has since been changed into a church. God would 
not permit that the grave should retain that body which had been the dwelling-place of 
Life ; united to the holy soul it was assumed into heaven. This chapel is square and very 
small. The grave itself is a high tomb of marble, the cover of which is likewise of black- 
veined marble. This sepulchre of the Blessed Virgin lies at the foot of Mount Olivet 
near the Garden Gethsemane, where Judas betrayed his Lord and Master, and where our 
Saviour gave Himself over to His enemies. At present this is only a very small piece of 
land shaded from time immemorial by eight olive trees. Around it the Franciscans have 
erected a stone wall. 

According to the gospel, our Saviour withdrew a stone’s cast, fell upon the ground 
and prayed .... “and being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat 
became a r Irops of blood trickling down upon the ground” (Luke 22: 43-44). This 
mystery 01 the passion is venerated in the Grotto of the Agony; a flight of stairs leads 
down into the grotto. Two pilasters and three columns support the ceiling, in the midst 
of which an opening covered with lattice- work admits the light ; to the east of this chapel 
there are three altars erected, and illuminated by lamps. 

From this grotto two roads lead to the top of Mount Olivet where the Church of the 
Ascension of our Lord stands, here we find the stone from which our Lord ascended into 
heaven; it shows the impression of one foot. Now the way leads to the graves of the 
prophets into the valley of Josaphat, where are also found the graves of the kings Zacha- 
rias, Absolom and Josaphat. 

On the declivity of Mount Moria, where once stood the temple is the fount of Silvah, 
also called Mary’s Well, because the Holy Virgin often came hither, and from this a 
subterranean canal leads the pilgrim to the pond Silvah memorable on account of the 
cure of the man born blind, whom our Saviour ordered to wash here. Westward we 
approach the vale Hinnom where lies the Potter’s Field, Haceldama, which the Jews 

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purchased with the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Judas’ betrayal. Outside of the N 
present city walls, towards the South, stands Mount Sion with David’s tomb, an irregular 
building with a Turkish Mosque. In this building besides David’s tomb is the Hall of 
the Lord’s Supper; a flight of stairs leads up to this hall. The hall itself was erected in . \ 
the fourteenth century upon the place where our Saviour instituted the Sacrament of the 
Altar. Up to Mount Moria, upon which now stands Omar’s Mosque, leads the Golder 
Gate through which Jesus entered on Palm Sunday, and which the Turks have closed, 
because, according to an old prophecy, the Christians will at some future time enter 
victoriously. 

These are the most celebrated places of Jerusalem and which the pilgrim visits with 
great emotion. Having satisfied the ardor of his devotion, he neglects not to visit also 
those places of the Holy Land which our Saviour has rendered sacred because He passed 
there His childhood and was there when preaching His divine doctrine. Our desire is 
satisfied when we reach Bethlehem; passing through the gate of Jaffa we cross the bridge 
over the brook Gihon and we soon arrive at the large turpentine tree under which tl 
holy Virgin rested with the Infant Jesus on her way to Egypt. At some little distance 
is the well where the Magi again saw the star; midway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem 
at our left stands upon an elevation the great monastery Elias, from where we once mo ne 
Jook back to Jerusalem and further on we see Bethlehem located on a height. Now tjie 
pilgrim passes by the tomb of Rachel, the mother of the Egyptian Joseph, and finall 
arrives at the place where angels announced to the shepherds the birth of the Redeemer. 

This place is about three-quarters of a mile from Bethlehem ; near it is the village where 
the shepherds lived. A rough road between vineyards and olive plantations leads up 
the back of a mountain, on the front declivity of which lies Bethlehem with its white: 
houses. The present industrious inhabitants, of this formerly highly celebrated city, are Vj: 
all Christians. The sacred birthplace of our Redeemer is a few hundred steps from 
Bethlehem, and lies eastward upon a height at the back of the hill. The large monastery 
which is inhabited by Catholics, Greeks and Armenians, presents, with its three churches 
and buildings of divers forms, an imposing aspect. Through a narrow gate we arrive ir 
the front court, from which we come through a small door into the Church of the Nativity. 

The Emperor Constantine built this church over the grotto or stable where Christ our 
Lord was born ; it is built in the form of a cross and contains five naves. The ceiling is of 
beams of cypress wood; the roof is of lead. From the high altar two flights of stairs lead 
into the grotto, a cave where the shepherds used to seek protection from the inclemency 
of the weather. There are more such caves around Bethlehem; this one is now trans- 
formed into a chapel which is thirty feet long, eleven feet wide, and nine feet high, and its 
walls and floors are covered with beautiful slabs of marble, and thirty-two lamps illumine 
its interior. Back on the Eastern side is the main chamber of the cave, the chapel of thp^'' - '^ 
Birth of Christ. A star of white marble surrounded by brilliant rays of silver, upon 
which are the words: “ Hie de virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est.” “ Here is born of 
the Virgin Mary Christ Jesus,” indicates the spot where our Saviour first saw the light of 

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the w orld. Six or seven steps south of this spot we descend three steps and again thiee 
to the place where the Blessed Mother laid the Infant in the manger. The dazzling light 
of the lamps and candles reflects into the cavity, where stood the wooden crib which is 
now kept in Rome. Opposite the crib is the altar of the Magi, the place where they 
adored the divine Infant. The whole sacred Grotto of the Birth of Christ is in possession 
of the Franciscans. Around it there are several others. The first of importance is the 
burying-place of the Holy Innocents; the second the school of St. Jerome, where this 
holy Father of the Church translated the Holy Scriptures; the third contains the grave of 
St. Eusebius of Cremona, who was a disciple of St. Jerome, and in the fourth rest the 
bones of St. Paula and her daughter Eustachia, noble Romans, who here in quiet solitude 
led a contemplative life. 

Immediately behind the monastery an open cave in a rock is seen, called the Milk- 
Grotto, where Mary remained during the infanticide at Bethlehem. Following up an 
aqueduct we reach the large Ponds and a mile and a quarter further the Closed Gardens, 
both the work of King Solomon. 

Nearly fifteen miles south of Bethlehem the town of Hebron is situated in a narrow 
valley. Here Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived and “walked with the Lord;” here also 
they lie buried; their graves are seen in the Mosque of the Turks ornamented by 
costly carpets. Here King David lived. Two miles and a half distant in the valley 
Mambre the house of Abraham is pointed out to us; at present it is only a pile of ruins; 
also an old oak tree is standing on the spot where the Lord appeared to this patriarch. 

In one of the valleys abundantly blessed with the finest grapes and olives south- 
west from Jerusalem stands the monastery of St. John with the most beautiful Catholic 
churches of the Holy Land. The birthplace of St. John the Baptist is here shown. A 
mile and a half from this is venerated the place of the visitation of Mary, and south 
of the monastery of St. John is the fountain of Philip, the place where the Apostle 
Philip baptized the chamberlain of the queen of Condace. About two miles from St. 
John’s stands the monastery of the Lloly Cross, the place where the tree stood of which 
the cross of our Saviour was made. 

On his return home the pilgrim generally takes the route between the Dead Sea, 
Mount Carmel and Lebanon, to visit the interesting and holy spots which lie in that 
direction, and especially to see Nazareth. Having crossed Mount Olivet he arrives at 
Bethany, where Lazarus lived with his sisters Mary and Martha. Our Lord often called 
at their house, and it was in this place that He raised Lazarus from the grave. From 
Bethany the road leads through a lonesome mountainous desert towards Jericho. In this 
desert our Lord was tempted by the devil. Jericho is now an insignificant place full of 
ruins of ancient glory. In one hour’s journey from Jericho the pilgrim reaches the 
Jordan, the place where John baptized our Saviour; returning he comes to Bir where a 
dilapidated church marks the place where Mary missed the Saviour on her return from the 
temple. After this he reaches Bethel, where Jacob saw the vision of angels, and from 
here the province of Samaria. 


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In a beautiful and fertile valley surrounded by mountains lies the fountain, formerly 
called Jacob’s well, where our Lord met the Samaritan woman. About a mile and a 
quarter distant we enter the former land of Sichem, now called Nablus, where Abraham 
encamped and Jacob raised his tents, between the mountains Hebal and Garizim. Not 
far distant the tomb of the patriarch Joseph is visible. Six miles and a quarter from 
Garizim lies Samaria, now an insignificant place, in which are the ruins of the once 
magnificent church of St. John. In the midst of these ruins stands a Turkish Mosque 
which contains the grave of St. John the Baptist. Now the road leads over the anterior of 
a high mountain to the ruins of Bethulia where the pious widow Judith lived, and through 
a narrow, rocky valley we reach the border of Galilee. A magnificent plain spreads itself 
before the eyes of the pilgrim; it is the plain of Esdrelon. The further we now go 
northward the more the mountains withdraw, and we behold in the distance Mount 
Thabor. In the midst of the plain Esdrelon we cross the brook Cison, where the Prophet 
Elias killed the priests of Baal, then we cross the mountains of Galilee and coming down 
into a narrow valley we reach the road to Nazareth, after Jerusalem and Bethlehem the 
most celebrated place of the Holy Land. Every pilgrim lingers in quiet devotion at the 
spot where the angel of the Lord announced to the Blessed Virgin the coming of the 
Saviour. Nazareth is an insignificant town of three thousand inhabitants. The finest 
building there is the Latin Monastery, with the richly decorated Church of the Annuncia- 
tion of the Blessed Virgin. Near the entrance of the church we descend a flight of 
marble steps into a chapel the ceiling and walls of which are of solid rock. This place is 
venerated as the chamber where the angel announced to Mary the Incarnation. Fre- 
quently chambers are cut into the rocky mountains in Nazareth and the houses are 
connected with these chambers, such was the house of the Blessed Virgin. This little 
house is at present at Loretto near Rome, having been carried thither by angels. An 
altar of marble now adorns that chamber used as a chapel; near this altar stand two 
columns, one at the place where Mary stood, and one where the angel appeared and 
saluted her. The marble floor bears the inscription in gold: “Verbum hie caro factum 
est” — “Here the Word was made flesh.” Near the church is a chapel built over the 
place where the house of St. Joseph stood. Even now a pillar of it is shown. At one 
side of the city is the Well of Mary from which the Blessed Virgin drew water. On a cliff 
three hundred feet high, from where the Jews wished to cast our Saviour down, stands an 
altar, and in a ravine near the town is also shown a large table rock within a chapel upon 
which our Lord sat several times while speaking with His disciples after His resurrection. 
As we pass the Well of the Blessed Virgin, we ascend an elevation from which we can see 
the old Sapphoris, the dwelling-place of St. Joachim and Anna. Four miles and three- 
quarters distant lies Cana, where Jesus at the marriage feast changed water into wine. 
Proceeding from here a short distance, we behold to our left a somewhat lengthy moun- 
tain, having two peaks. The Christians call this the mountain of the Beatitudes, because 
our Saviour preached His sermon on the Mount from one of these peaks. Passing on a 
few steps on this elevation the eye is agreeably surprised in beholding suddenly below the 


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bright mirror of Lake Genesareth, on the green shores of which the Saviour loved to 
linger. Into this lake empties the Jordan, which flows through the Holy Land from 
^gouth and finally disappears in the DeachSea. Southwest of Lake Genesare 
^hount of the Transfiguration of Christ, Thd^o,^- Ruins of churches and mon 
/er the whole surface of the mountain from Vf$ose peak one enjoys a ravishing^ 
Jot far from Thabor lies Naim where Christ raised to life the son of the widow. 
^Carmel wds the favorite place where Elias and Eliseus loy^d. to stav, and the 
bans imitated their example, for many of them lived on >£feese heigj ' ' 
hermits are the predecessors of the Carmelites, whose splendid “ 
commands an extensive view of the Mediterranean. 

If the pilgfdmHeaves the Holy Land via Byrut he will undoubte 
Mount Lebancrff^: This is a mountain which contains the loveliest orange . 
immense forest^,' the most pleasant spots, and the wildest rocky chasms; its inhabitai&|^ 
are the faithful Catholic Maronites, and the heathenish Druses. From Lebanon, trie 
Y//A pilgrim visits Damascus, famous on account of the conversion of St. Paul, the apostle; 
a mile and a quarter from Damascus the place is marked out where Paul fell to the ground 
and heard the voice of Jesus: “ Saul, why dost thou persecute me?” Into the city leads 
a gate bearing the name of St. Paul, and a street bearing that of Ananias. Returning 
from Damascus some pilgrims visit the ancient Saida, Sidon, situated on the shore of the £ ^ 
Mediterranean. Our Saviour visited this place, and St. Paul remained here some days. 
Having returned to Byrut the pilgrim embarks, and deeply impressed, returns to his 
beloved home. 




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The Catholic Church 


FOUNDED BY 


Christ Himself 


Custodian of Our Faith and Morals 


BV 


MICHAEL MULLER, C. SS. R. 
305 






TI)e Catholic CI)QrcI), foanded ba Christ 
Himself, tl)e Custodian of oar Haiti) 

3 % and AYorals. 3 % 

OR love of man, God created the boundless universe, with its stars 
and countless worlds, and He made the universe, the temple of 
His endless love. The stars of heaven, as they sweep along in 
silent harmony, are ever singing a wondrous song, and the 
sweet burden of their song is, “ God is love and truth.” 

This world is the temple of God’s love and truth. The 
green earth, with its flowers, is the carpeted floor. The clear 
sky above is the vaulted dome; its pillars are the mountains, 
white with eternal snow. The mists and vapors that are ever 
ascending, like the smoke of sacrifice, remind us of the thoughts 
of love and gratitude that should ever go up to heaven from our 
hearts. The whispering of the winds, the rush of the storm, 
the murmuring of the brook, and the roar of the cataract, are the music that raises our 
hearts to God. And when God had finished that wondrous temple of His love, “ He saw 
that it was good ’ ’ (Gen. 1:25). 

For love of man, God has raised a still more wondrous temple, — the temple of His 
holy Church. Millions and millions of chosen souls have aided in building this wondrous 
temple. Its foundation was laid at the gates of paradise. The patriarchs and prophets 
have labored at it, through the long ages of hope and expectation. It was completed, 
in the fullness of time, by the Only-Begotten of the Father, our Lord Jesus Christ. 
This temple of love was consecrated by the Holy Ghost on that wonderful day of 
love, the Feast of Pentecost. The summit of this glorious temple of love now 
rises to the highest heavens, and to the throne of the living God Himself. In 
its depth, it reaches to that region of suffering where those are detained who are to 
be cleansed from all stain, before entering into the joys of heaven. In its width, it 
extends over all the earth, and shuts out no one who is willing to enter its portals. In 
this new creation, far more than in the old, God looks on those things that He made, and 
sees that they are “very good." What God does, is done well — is a perfect work. The 
establishment of the Catholic Church is the grand work of His power; it is the greatest 
fact in history, — a fact so great, that there would be no history without it; a fact perma- 
nent, entering into the concerns of all nations on the face of the earth, appearing again 

307 



:ived, directly or 


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ief Church is the wcrk of 
wLhas marks graven on 
feing the true Church of 
Ssion and authority, to 


How MANY CHURCHES DID CHRIST ESTABLISH? 

Christ established but one church. Cc ^ 

Cr 

Indeed, as there is but one Christ, so there is, and can be, but one Church of Christ. /M- 
The Church is called the body of Christ. Now, as Christ has but one body, so He can 
have but one Church. Christ Himself tells us plainly that He established but one 
Church. He did not say to St. Peter, Upon thee I will build my churches: he said, 

“ Upon thee I will build my Church.” He never said, ‘‘The gates of hell shall not prevail 
against my churches;” He said, ‘‘The gates of hell shall not prevail against my Church.” 

In fact, that our Lord established but one Church, is self-evident; it needs no proof. We 
are as certain of it as we are that there is but one God. St. Paul asserts this in the 
clearest terms: ‘‘One Lord, one faith, one baptism;” that is, as there is and can be but 
one Lord, so there is and can be but one faith, one religion, one Church. And as our Lord 
established but one Church, it follows necessarily, that all other churches are not the 
ork of Jesus Christ. They are the work of man; the Church of Christ, the Catholic 
urch alone, is the work of God. 

All the works of God have something divine and supernatural, about them, 
thing that at once proclaims their divine origin; something th^t distinguishes them, in 
an unmistakable manner, from the works of man. As the Caf 
God, she has something about her to show that she is : 
her which make it impossible for one to be mistaken 
Christ; she has the most incontestable proofs of 
convince all who wish to be convinced. 


and again on the records of time, and benefiting, perc 


indirectly, socially, morally, and supernaturally member hf /tkeynuman family. 

From the beginning of the world Go.d cilMi&ys haliLbm one -Church to teach His 
religion to men, and lead them to heaven^ ,;S^ta|^ too, from theVjDeginning, has tried to 
have a church and a worship of his ownype ftiuncl followers among the angels to refuse 
^submission to God’s holy will. Needaipwonder at seeing him find followers among men ? • 
As the faithful servants of God are known and distinguished by their ready obedience to 
the divine authority of the Catholic Church, so those who are deceived by Satan are 
known by their want of submission to the divine authority of the Church. They form 
churches of their own, in opposition to the true Church of God. In the ninth century, the 
Greeks separated from the Roman Catholic Church, and formed a church of their own, 
called the Greek Church. In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Martin Luther, an 
apostate friar, preached a doctrine of his own; he gained many followers in Germany, 
who left the Catholic Church, and formed what is called and known as the Lutheran, or 
Protestant, Church. In 1531, Henry VIII, King of England, fell away from the Catholic 
Church, and made himself the supreme head of the English, or Anglican, Church. These, 
and other churches, are the work of man. 




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By what marks is the Church of Christ easily known? 

By these jour: The Church of Christ is: i, one; 2, she is holy; 3 , she is Catholic; and, 
4, she is apostolic. 

Above all, perfect unity must be found in the Church of Christ; for Christ calls His 
Church a “ building,” a “ kingdom,” a “city,” a “ flock,” a “ house,” a “ body.” In order 
to establish, insure, and preserve unity, He made St. Peter the foundation of the building, 
the chief ruler of the kingdom, the key-holder of the city and house, the principal shepherd 
of the flock, the head of the body. And on the eve of His passion, Christ asked for a unity 
in His Church, like that which unites the three divine persons in one and the same nature : 
‘‘Father,” He prayed, ‘‘keep them whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, even 
as we are one” (John 17 : 11). Moreover, He prayed that this union might last forever, 
and that it should be the distinctive mark of His Church: “ I pray, also,” He says, ‘‘for 
all those who, through their word, shall believe in me, that they may all be one, as thou, 
Father, in me, and I in thee, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 
20: 21). The apostles express very clearly the necessity of unity, and show that it is a 
distinctive mark of the true Church: “Be careful,” says St. Paul, “to keep the unity of 
the spirit in the bond of peace. One body and one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one 
baptism.” 

Unity, then, is a distinctive mark, and an essential condition of the Church of Christ. 
That Church which has no unity, cannot be the true Church; and that Church which has 
unity, must certainly be divine. 

In the Church of Christ holiness also must be found, no less than unity. Christ shed 
His blood for no other purpose than to form for Himself, says St. Paul, a pure Church, 
“without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; that it should be holy and without blemish ” 
(Eph. 5 : 25). Moreover, as the Church of Christ teaches the true faith, holiness must be 
the result of this faith, since Christ says: “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit” 
(Matt. 7: 18). According to Christ’s promise, miracles will be performed by the true 
believers of His Church, and bear “witness to her holiness” (Mark 16: 17). 

The Church, however, is not composed of the elect alone, for Christ compares her 
to a net which draws out of the sea ‘ ‘good and bad fish” (Matt. 13 : 47) ; to a field where 
the cockle grows together with the wheat, until the day of the harvest (Matt. 13 : 30). 

Again, during His public life, Christ declared repeatedly that His unalterable purpose 
was to unite in one religious society, all mankind, of every age and clime, and afford His 
followers the means to free themselves from sin and become reconciled to God ; to grow 
in purity and holiness of life, and thus enter into life everlasting. He spoke always and 
everywhere, in language most clear and explicit, of this note of universality, as one 
peculiar to His kingdom (John 10: 16; Matt. 28: 19). All the prophecies relative to the 
Messiah spoke of the whole human race as the flock of Christ, whose kingdom was to 
extend its bounds “till it embraced all pagan nations” (Matt. 15:24; Ps. 109: 2.). Christ’s 
Church, therefore, must be Catholic, or universal. 

309 






V 




Finally, Christ has most solemnly promised to be with His apostles to the end of the 
world, and He has made St. Peter the first Bishop of Rome, the foundation of the Church, 
and her supreme head. Christ’s Church, therefore, must be apostolic. Holy Scripture 
itself gives us this full information about the marks of the true Church of Christ. 

Which Church is one, holy, Catholic and apostolic? 

The Roman Catholic Church alone is one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic. 

It is easy to 



Show how the Catholic Church is one. 

The Catholic Church is one, because all her members are united: i, in one faith; 2, in 
one worship; 3 , under one infallible head. 

The Catholic Church is one, because all her members are united in one faith. 

Unity is especially divine. It exists in its perfection only in the adorable Trinity. 
Wherever we find unity in created things, we may be sure that it is an image and reflection 
of God. Now, in this world, there is one society, and only one, in which unity has always 
existed, and has never been broken. This society is the Catholic Church. This society 
is the most numerous, the first, and the most ancient of all the communities that call 
themselves Christian. The Catholic Church is found in all kingdoms and states; it 
reaches from pole to pole, from east to west; embraces all ranks and classes of men. The 
members of the Catholic Church differ from one another in their character, in their 
education, in their modes of thought; they differ in their language, in their habits of life, 
in their sympathies and prejudices; in a word, they differ from one another in everything 
that distinguishes man from man. But in one thing they are all united : in religion. In 
religion, alone, they are all of one mind and one heart. In this wonderful society you will 
find the passionate Italian, with his glowing imagination; you will find, also, the stolid 
and tenacious Englishman ; the lively and brilliant Frenchman ; and the quiet, thoughtful 
German. You will find there the stately Spaniard; the witty, impulsive Irishman, and 
the acute and practical American. All these, and so many other races, though they 
contrast violently with one another in every natural gift and habit; though they retain 
all their distinctive peculiarities as men and citizens, yet in religion they are all one — 
absolutely one. Throughout the whole Catholic world, the myriads of every nation, 
climate, and language, nobles and peasants, monarchs and slaves, philosophers and little 
children, there exists a unity of faith and doctrine so divine and absolute, so spontaneous 
and yet so perfect, so unshackled and yet so complete, that a cardinal in Rome or a 
neophyte in China, a mathematician in Holland or a wood-cutter in Syria, or a little child 
anywhere, would give in substance, the same answer to any question upon any doctrine 
of the Church. 

When their children are born, all bring them to be regenerated in the same waters of 
baptism. When they become unfaithful to their baptismal vows, and sin against God’s 
^commandments, they all have recourse to the same tribunal of penance. They all seek 

310 







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^ v streng^At the same eucharistic table, and, animated by the sayi**> lfirtli,-Uiey receive 
Ui tntltnJi and bl^Dd of Jesus Christ. In sickness, when they are abouFx&^mpear 

idir God, they all send for the priest of the Church and receive the sacram? 
Unction. They all are one not only in faith but also in worship 
id what more natural than this oneness in worship? Christ, wflo tauglrs^us 
I/// "region, has also taught us how to worship His heavenly Father in a manner wort 
His divine majesty. He instituted the holy sacrifice of the Mass, in which He is at 
Jhf>High-Priest and the Victim. Through the hands of His priests He offers Him? 
us to His heavenly Father as a sacrifice of adoration, of thanksgiving, of atonement, ar 
of impetration. Since the institution of the Mass, paradise blooms again, the heavens^ 
are purple, the angels shine in white, and men are exhilarated. This sublime and 
profound mystery, which scandalizes obstinate unbelievers, and arouses the pride of 
Protestants, is, nevertheless, that which renews the face of the earth, satisfies the justice 
of God, redeems man unto salvation, opens heaven, sanctifies the world, and disarms hell. 
It is this mystery which has engendered a more holy religion, a more spiritual worship, 
)and a purer virtue among men, because it is more interior; from it spring the most 
efficacious sacrament, more abundant graces, more sublime ceremonies, more .perfect 
laws; it is that tender adoption of men, as children of God, substituted for the more 
ancient alliance between God and man, which was founded upon fear. This mystery is 
the striking manifestation of all truths and the censure of all errors; all vices find their 
condemnation therein, all virtues their principle, all merits their recompense; it is, in 
short, the foundation of faith, the support of hope, and the most powerful motive for the 
love of God. 

The holy Mass is the sun of Christianity, and the summary of all that is grand, and 
magnificent, and most prodigious, both in the triumphant and in the militant Church of 
God. The angels almost envy us this divine sacrifice. Protestants and infidels may say, 
with a sneer, that it is the pomp and glitter of our ceremonies and altars that draw the 
faithful to the church. Not so. The fickle nature of man cannot be charmed long by 
such transitory things. Our altars we adorn, we decorate our churches, we embellish the 
priestly vestments, we display the gorgeous ceremonies of the Church, but not to attract 
the people; we do all this simply because our Lord Jesus Christ is present there, our 
Saviour and our God, surrounded by countless myriads of angels. This is the grand*' 
source of the magnificence df our architecture, the gorgeousness of our vestments, the 
diversity of our ornaments, the sound of our organs, the religious harmony of our voices, 
and the grandeur and order of all our ceremonies, both in the consecration and dedication 
of our churches, and the solemn celebration of the Mass. 

This is the reason why we adorn ourselves with our gayest attire, why we rifle the 
gardens of their sweetest and choicest flowers to decorate our altars, and scatter them in 
lavish profusion before the feeC<3Peufe^§,cramental King. This is the reason why our 


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sacred altars glitter a 
incense float up and 


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it is related of Frederick II, King of Prussia, that, after having assisted at a solemn 
high Mass, celebrated in the church of Breslau by Cardinal Tringendorf, he remarked: 
“The Calvinists treat God as an inferior, the Lutherans treat Him as as an equal, but the 
Catholics treat Him as God.” Yes, indeed; it is only the Catholic Church that is the 
home for our dear Saviour. His presence fills her halls to overflowing with joy and glad- 
ness. Her propitiatory altars are the anchors of hope for the sinner; her sanctuaries, 
the antechambers of heaven. Take away the blessed sacrament, and you take away her 
Saviour. Give her the blessed sacrament, and you give her a glory, an honor, a triumph, 
the greatest possible this side of paradise. Her altars are the altars of joy, because they 
are the altars of the saving Victim for the sins of the world; for which reason the robed 
priest begins the tremendo us sacrifice with the antiphon : “I will go unto the altar of God, 
to God who rejoiceth my youth.” 

This sacrifice of adoration, of thanksgiving, of atonement, and of impetration, is 
offered up daily, nay hourly, all over the world. To it come the simple peasant from his 
woods, the shepherd from the mountains, the man of business, the solemn religious, the 
devout student, the holy recluse, the laboring youth, the innocent child with its baptismal 
robe unsullied, the penitent sinner who has atoned, or who is atoning for having stained 
the purity of his soul; all, all draw grace, strength, consolation and virtue, from this 
ever-flowing fountain of spiritual riches, in proportion to the measure of their faith, 
confidence, fervor, and devotion. To this fountain of healing water the poor walk 
free and favored as in presence of nature; they can approach it as nearly as kings 
and can enjoy equally the splendor and loveliness of the altar of God. Here ends the land 
of malediction. Here God is before all, and all are before God; His children, His crea- 
tures — nothing more, nothing less — all alike in this. No one marshals you, no one heeds 
you; here you may kneel and weep in secret or lie prostrate before the Good Shepherd 
and the Lamb of God, in the blessed sacrament; here each sun that rises will find you 
more consoled, with healthier looks, less pale; here the workings of an uneasy conscience 
are soothed and made straight; or rather, here it is that you find time and opportunity 
for reconciliation with God. 

Here the poor sinner is assisted to enter upon the way of salvation; here he is 
supplied with that living water, of which those who drink shall never more feel thirst; 
here we find the female sex, gifted with great faith and ardent devotion, turning their 
hearts to the Catholic altar, whether in joy or sorrow, in sickness or in health, like the 
innocent child, who always runs thither for help where he trusts most; here the poor 
pilgrim, wearied with fatigue, kneels down on the altar-steps, to thank Him who has 
watched over him during a long and perilous journey; here a distracted mother comes 
into the temple to pray for the recovery of her son, whom the physicians have given over; 
here God is our Father, and the angels and saints our friends. 

O how glorious, how sublime, is the worship of the Catholic Church, as she celebrates 
daily, hourly, the triumphal march of the Prince of Peace around the world which He 
has redeemed ! Hour after hour, in all parts of the world, the solemn anthems of Catholic 



3 12 








worship roll heavenward, like “the noise of many waters.” Minute after minute, hour 
after hour, day after day, month after month, year after year, and century after century, 
the glorious anthems of the Catholic Church have rolled on unbroken through the long 
lapse of eighteen hundred changeful, fleeting years. The unnumbered voices of every 
age, and sex, and rank, which have sounded from that hour when the angelic harmonies 
charmed the midnight air of Bethlehem, even to this very moment, — all seem borne to 
our ears in one overpowering flood of sweetest, heavenliest harmony. 

The Catholic Church is one, because all her members are united under one infallible 
head. 

Yes; more than two hundred millions of Christians venerate and obey the Holy 
Father, Pope Leo XIII, as the successor of St. Peter, the supreme, earthly chief of the 
immortal Church of Jesus Christ; the father of souls; the guide of consciences; the 
sovereign judge of the religious interests of humanity; the head of Catholic Christendom; 
the mouth of Christ’s Church, ever living and open to teach the universe; the centre of 
Christian faith and unity; the light of truth, kindled to illuminate the world; the ada- 
mantine base of a divine edifice which the powers of darkness can never shake ; the corner- 
stone upon which the city of God here below reposes ; the prince of priests, the father of 
fathers, the heir of apostles; a greater patriarch than Abraham, greater than Melchise- 
dech in priesthood, than Moses in authority, than Samuel in jurisdiction; in a word, 
Peter in power, Christ by unction, pastor of pastors, guide of guides, the cardinal joint of 
all the churches, the keystone of the Catholic arch, the impregnable citadel of the com- 
munion of the children of God. Were the holy Pontiff, Leo XIII, permitted to go abroad 
amid his children, every knee would bend before him, in token of cheerful obedience; 
every voice would salute him, in proof of the deepest veneration, and every tongue would 
bless him with untold affection; head and body, ruler and subjects, the shepherd and the 
flock, the Sovereign Pontiff and the people, would be seen to be one heart and one soul. 
All Catholics live in the heart of the Father of the Faithful; and he lives in the hearts of 
all Catholics, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth, abiding with them, and uniting them all 
in one faith, in one worship, and under one head: “Therefore,” says St. Jerome, “was one 
of the twelve set over all the others as the recognized head, in order that all occasion of 
schism might be removed.” 

This miracle of unity of human minds and hearts in all things has been perpetuated 
from age to age, in a world where everything else is changing, and is perpetuated silently 
and peacefully, without effort and without constraipt. So irresistible is the mysterious 
power that thus joins together so many human hearts, that even the convert of yesterday, 
whether he lives in the very centre of European civilization or amid the savage tribes of 
Africa, feels already the sweet spell upon him, and finds his heart beating in unison with 
the great heart of the Church, as if he had been suckled at her breast and lain in her bosom 
from infancy. 

In the whole history of the human race there is no record of any such miracle as this. 
Even were all the dead to rise from their graves and to crowd our streets and thorough- 





fares, it would not be a greater miracle. Like the Jews of old, the men of the present 
generation “desire a sign,” in order that they may believe; and now here is a sign, a 
standing miracle, a more luminous, more dazzling than the noonday sun. “Truly the 
finger of God is here.” 

One day a certain Protestant of Pennsylvania came to Archbishop Kenrick, of 
Baltimore, to tell him that he wished to become a Catholic. “What induced you,” asked 
the archbishop, “ to take this step ? ” “ The bugs, the bugs ! ” he replied. “ What do you 

mean by that?” “ I have often noticed,” said he, “how in nature, animals follow their 
leader and are kept united together by him. The same must be true in religion, only that 
one can be of divine origin which has a leader whom all are bound to follow. As I find 
this only in the Catholic Church, I feel convinced that she is the true Church, in which 
alone I can be saved.” If St. Paul could say to the heathens, “ You might have found out 
the true God by his works, if you had cared to do so,” surely God may say in the great day 
to the children out of the Catholic Church: “You might have known the true Church by 
her unity, if you had not closed your eyes.” 

The next mark by which Christ wished His Church to be distinguished is that of 
holiness. But, in speaking of the holiness of the Catholic Church, we do not mean to say^ 
that every member of the Church is holy. The field of the Church is wide and has weeds 
s well as wheat. In the very company chosen by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, ther/ 
as a Peter who denied Him and a Judas who betrayed Him. So it is at the present day>- 
So it will be to the end of time. 

Show how the Catholic Church is holy? 

The Catholic Church is holy: i, in Jesus Christ, her Founder; 2, in her doctrine, which 
is Christ's doctrine; 3, in her means of grace, the proper use of which makes us holy; 4, in 
many of her members, whose holiness has been confirmed by miracles and extraordinary gifts. 

The Catholic Church is holy in her Founder, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of 
God. But what mind of man or angel can conceive the greatness of the holiness of Jesus 
Christ, which is indeed infinite. To say that His holiness is greater than that of all the 
saints and angels united is to fall infinitely below it. Jesus Christ, as God, is infinite 
holiness itself, and the sum of our conception of holiness is but the smallest atom of the 
holiness of God. David, contemplating the divine holiness, and seeing that he could not, 
and never would, be able to comprehend it, could only exclaim: “0 Lord! who is like 
unto thee?” (Ps. 34: 10). 0 Lord! what holiness shall ever be found like to Thine ? It 

is an utter impossibility for any human or angelic understanding to conceive an adequate 
idea of the holiness of Christ. All we can say is, that His holiness is infinite. The Catho- 
lic Church then, is holy in her divine Founder. 

The Catholic Church is also holy in her doctrine, which is the doctrine of Christ and 
His holy apostles, and His doctrine is the expression of the will of His heavenly Father: 

“ My doctrine is not mine, but of Him that sent me” (John 7 : 16). As the will of God is 
most holy, so also the doctrine expressing the holy will of God must be most holy. Hence 
the book containing the word of God is called the holy Bible, or holy Scripture. Every 

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action and every word of our Saviour breathes holiness, inspires holiness, and leads to 
holiness. Therefore He calls those blessed who learn His doctrine: “Blessed are your 
ears, because they hear. For, amen I say to you, many prophets and just men have 
desired to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them’’ (Matt. 13: 16). 
Hence, all those who live up to this doctrine are called saints: “You are a chosen genera- 
tion — a holy nation,’’ says St. Peter of the Christians (I Pet. 2 : 9). 

The very enemies of the Catholic Church bear witness to the holiness of her doctrine. 
Why have so many fallen away from her faith? It is because they had not courage 
enough to live up to her holy precepts. Why is it that so many do not embrace the 
Catholic faith who know that the Catholic Church is the only true Church of Christ? It 
is because they are afraid of her holy morals. Even the most wicked feel naturally 
convinced that the Catholic religion is holy; a fault in a Catholic is considered, — and 
considered rightly, — graver than in one who is not a Catholic. 

The Church is holy in her means of grace. It is her office to make men holy. She 
holds out to her children not only the holy example and doctrine of her divine Founder as 
the pathway to holiness, she also offers to them the means of grace, which enable them to 
live up to her holy doctrine. By His divine example and holy doctrine Christ showed us 
the narrow road that leads to heaven. But what would it avail us to know the road to 
heaven, if we had no strength to walk on that straight, and, to fallen humanity, hard 
road? This strength we have not of ourselves. God is the greatest supernatural good. 
We can then, acquire this good only by supernatural strength, that is, by the help of 
Almighty God. By His sufferings and death, Christ obtained for us all the graces neces- 
sary to live up to His holy doctrine, to overcome all the evil inclinations of fallen nature, 
all the temptations, all the trials and struggles of life. These graces He wished to be 
applied to our souls by means of the sacraments and prayer, and He appointed His 
Church to sanctify her children by these means of grace. 

The child is born in sin; the Church cleanses it in baptism and makes it a child of 
God. The child is weak; the Church strengthens it in confirmation, makes it a brave 
soldier, to battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil. The child is wounded, falls 
into sin; the Church, like the good physician, probes the wounds and pours into the 
bleeding heart the oil and wine of hope and consolation, in the sacrament of 
penance. The child is hungry and weary; the Church feeds it with heavenly food, 
nourishes and refreshes it with the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
The heart of the young man feels the fire of that love which first came from God, and 
which has become unholy only by abuse; and the Church, like a fond mother, sanctifies 
and preserves this natural love of the bridegroom and the bride. In the holy sacrament 
of marriage she blesses this love before the altar of God, and declares its bonds perpetual. 
And should the heart of the young man aspire to a higher and holier destiny ; should he 
desire, in his inmost soul, to soar high above the weakening tenderness of mere human 
love; should he desire to become the saviour of his fellow-men, the cooperator with God 
Himself in the great work of redemption, the holy Church leads him by the hand, she 

3*5 


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“blesses, sanctifies, and consecrates” him before the altar of God; she makes him a priest 
forever, a priest of the Most High God. 

At last, when her child is dying, the holy Catholic Church comes to his bedside with 
sanctifying oil and the prayer of faith ; she administers to him the sacrament of Extreme 
Unction, to strengthen and console him in his fearful death-struggle. But her love does 
not end at the bed of death. She opens wide the doors of her temple; she offers an # 
asylum even to the dead body of her child. She blesses that body which was once the 
temple of the living God, and she even consecrates the very ground in which that body is 
laid to rest. 

The love of the Church for her children does not pause even at the grave. Day 
after day she offers up her prayers; day after day she offers up the holy sacrifice of the 
altar for the souls of her children departed. The husband may forget the wife of his 
bosom, the mother may forget the child of her heart, but the holy Church does not forget 
her children, not even in death: her love is divine, it is eternal. And in this love the 
Church is impartial : she is just to all. As the holy spouse of Christ, she loves justice and 
hates iniquity. She has spurned the anointed king from the temple of God, until he 
repented of his crime; and on the head of the lowly monk, who spent his days in labor 
and prayer, she has placed the triple crown. 

At one moment she bathes with baptismal dew the peasant’s child; and at another 
she boldly confronts the imperial might that dares assail her holy altar. Now the Church 
is accused of despotism, because she upholds the rights of lawful authority; and again, 
she is accused of arrogance, because she dares to protect the poor, the downtrodden, and 
the friendless. 

She blesses all things that are good in this world; she protects and encourages the 
fine arts. Truth is the essence of order, the essence of beauty. Religious truth is 
heavenly order, is supernatural beauty. The Church is the living spouse of heavenly 
truth; she must, therefore, be the friend, the protector of all beauty and order, and so she 
has proved to be for over two thousand years. 

In the Church, all that is good and beautiful in art or nature has been purified as in a 
heavenly crucible and consecrated to the service of religion. The poet seeks to please 
the imaginations of men and the Church unfolds before him the annals of Christianity. 
She tells him of the august sacrifice of infinite love, which is her soul and life, she tells 
him of her heroic sufferings, of her martyr faith, and the poet draws holy inspiration from 
these touching records and incites men to a higher, to a holier life. 

The painter and the sculptor seek to place before our eyes the happiest, the most 
sublime of conceptions; and the Church bids them look into her treasure-house where 
they find the most perfect models of every virtue, — models of pure, of noble, of heroic 
self-sacrifice. 

The architect seeks to build up a monument of strength, intellect, and beauty; and 
the Church unlocks for him the sublime, mysterious meanings of her ceremonies and 
symbols. Guided by her inspiration, he teaches the lifeless stone, spreading arch, the 

316 


pointed spire, to speak to men of faith, of hope, of love; he teaches them to speak of 
prayer, of sacrifice, of heaven. 

The orator strives to nerve men for the solemn duties, the grand conflicts of life; the 
Church of Christ touches his lips with living fire from the altar, and his eloquence flows 
on in an impetuous stream of “ thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.” 

The musician seeks to weave his entrancing spells around ear, and heart, and soul ; 
and the Church breathes into his soul the glorious, wondrous melodies which she has 
borrowed from the angels of heaven, and her music seems like beatific worship, and the 
worship on earth like beatific music. 

The Church is holy in many of her members. What is more natural than this? A 
mother that teaches her children so holy a doctrine, sets before them constantly the 
example of her divine Founder that they may live and die as He did. A mother that has 
such powerful means to sanctify her children, cannot but be holy in the fruits of sanctity, 
in the saints, and in the sacred institutions which she has produced. 

To be convinced of the personal sanctity of millions of her children, we have 
but to open the annals of Church history. There we read of thousands of men and 
women who fulfilled the saying of Christ: ‘‘Whosoever shall lose his life for my sake 
and the Gospel, shall save it” (Mark 8: 35). Such was the havoc made during the early 
persecutions of the Church, that her martyrs alone amount to thirty thousand for every 
day in the year. 

How many thousands of the children of the Church followed that saying of the Lord : 
“ If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and come follow me!” 
(Matt. 19: 21). And, ‘‘Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, 
or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundred-fold, 
and shall possess life everlasting” (Matt. 19: 29). Astonishing, indeed, is the number of 
those who have followed this saying of our Lord, by embracing the religious life. 

St. Athanasius writes that in his time there were monasteries like tabernacles, full of 
heavenly choirs of people who spent their time in singing psalms, in reading and praying; 
that they occupied a large extent of land, and made, as it were, a town among themselves. 
Such immense numbers resorted to the religious life in Palestine, that Isidore was the 
superior of one thousand monks, and his successor, Apollonius, of five thousand in the 
same monastery. In the cloistered community of Oryrynchus there were ten thousand 
monks. Upon a hill in Nitria, about twenty miles from Alexandria, there were five 
hundred monasteries under one superior. Palladius relates that he saw a city in which 
there were more monasteries than houses of seculars, ‘‘so that, every street and corner 
ringing with the divine praises, the whole city seemed a church.” He also testifies to 
having seen multitudes of monks in Memphis and Babylon, and that not far from Thebes 
he met with a Father of three thousand monks. St. Pachomius, who lived about three 
hundred years after Christ, had seven thousand disciples, besides one thousand in his own* 
house; and Serapion had ten thousand monks under his jurisdiction. 

Theodoret records that there were also multitudes of religious women throughout 


3*7 


the East, in Palestine, Egypt, Asia, Pontus, Cilicia, Syria, and also in Europe: “Since 
our Saviour,” he says, “was born of a Virgin Mother, the fields of holy virgins are every- 
where multiplied.” 

Nor was the great increase of religious houses confined to the early ages of the Church, 
for Trithemius, who died about the year 1516, says that in his time, the province of Ments 
alone contained one hundred and twenty-four abbeys ; and that there was a time when 
they had fifteen thousand abbeys, besides priories and other small monasteries, belonging 
to his order. 

St. Bernard, in his Life of St. Malachy, records that, in Ireland, there was a monastery 
out of which many thousands of monks had come forth: “A holy place indeed,” he says, 
“and fruitful in saints, bringing forth abundant fruit to God, insomuch that one man 
alone of that holy congregation, whose name was Luanus, is reported to have been the 
founder of one hundred monasteries. And these swarms of saints have not only spread 
themselves in Ireland and Scotland, but have also gone into foreign parts; for St. 
Columba, coming from thence into France, built the monastery of Luxovium, and raised 
there a great people, their number being so great that the divine praises were sung by 
them day and night without intermission. St. Columba founded one hundred monas- 
teries, of which thirty-seven were in Ireland, a country which was for centuries known 
all over Europe as the Island of Saints and Doctors.” According to Archdall, there were 
in Ireland seven hundred and forty-two religious houses. 

St. Bernard, in the space of thirty years that he was abbot, founded one hundred 
and sixty monasteries. So rapid was the progress of his order, that in the space of fifty 
years from its establishment, it had acquired five hundred abbeys; and at one time no 
fewer than eight hundred were dependent on Clairvaux. 

The Franciscans seem to have been particularly blessed in the speedy and extensive 
propagation of their order, for, about the year 1600, one branch of this order, called the 
Observantines, is said to have numbered one hundred thousand members. This order 
reckons at present two hundred thousand men and three hundred thousand sisters, 
including the tertiaries. It possesses two hundred and fifty-two provinces and twenty- 
six thousand convents, of which five are in Palestine, and over thirty in Turkey. More 
than eighty-nine emperors, kings and queens have been admitted into the order, which 
has, moreover, the glory of having furnished three thousand saints, or beatified persons, 
of whom seventeen hundred are martyrs. 

Nor is the Church less holy in many of her members, in our day. Who really takes 
Chtistian care of the poor, the sick, and the friendless, but the Catholic Church? She has 
founded such orders as the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of St. 
Joseph, and so many others, in order to administer to their wants. 

Where can you find, outside of the Catholic Church, that young and beautiful virgin, 
who lays at the foot of the cross her youth, her wealth, and her beauty ; who sacrifices all 
earthly hope and love, to spend her days in a loathsome hospital, and to watch during the 
long, dull night by the bedside of the sick and dying? The charitable, heroic deeds of 

318 



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v ; - : _>,. * — ^ : 

these holy virgins have alread" ’ ' ■ ' 

non-Catholics. 

St. John the Evangelist tells us that our Saviour cured one day a young man who 
had been born blind. The Pharisees heard of this and were filled with rage and envy. 
They took the young man aside, and said to him: “Give glory to God; the man that 
cured you is a sinner.’’ “Well,’’ said the young man, “whether he be a sinner or not 
I cannot say. But one thing I do know, and that is that he has cured me. God does 
not hear sinners. If this man were not from God he could not do such things” (John 9). 
This was the argument of the young man in the Gospel ; this, too, is the simple argument 
''of every honest non-Catholic. The bigots and Protestant preachers say to the returned 
soldier, to the young man who has just come forth from the hospital where he suffered 
during a long and painful illness: “ The Catholic Church is sinful and corrupt.” “Well,” 
the young man answers, “whether she is corrupt or not, I do know not; but one thing I 
do know, and that is, that I was at the point of death, and now I am well; and I owe it, 
after God, to the good Sisters of the Catholic Church. They waited on me in the hospital, 
in the battle-field ; they nursed me as tenderly as a mother or a sister could have done ; 
and they did it without pay, without any human motive or reward. Now a bad tree ( 
cannot bring forth such good fruit. If the Catholic Church were as sinful and corrupt as 
you say, God would not give her children such heroic devotedness.” 

Behold, again, the holy charity of the Catholic Church toward the very outcasts of 
society, — those poor, fallen creatures that have become the dishonor of their sex! See 
how closely she imitates her divine spouse, our Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is present at a 
great feast. A poor sinful woman, notorious on account of her wicked life, falls prostrate 
at His feet. She washes His feet with her tears and wipes them with her hair. The 
Pharisees are shocked and scandalized. They say in their hearts: “This man is no 
prophet ; if he were a prophet, he would know what kind of a woman that is who kneels at 
his feet, he would spurn her from him.’'’ But Jesus knows well the sinful life of Magdalen 
and yet He does not reject her. On the contrary, He defends her before them all, and 
says to her : “ My child, go in peace, thy sins are forgiven thee !” 

Ah, how full of mercy and compassion is the heart of Jesus Christ! Now look upon 
His spouse, the holy Catholic Church, and see if she is not worthy of her heavenly Bride- 
groom! The unfortunate woman whom many have helped to drag into destruction, has 
not now a hand stretched out to save her. The world that allured and ruined her despises 
her and laughs her to scorn. The proud, self-righteous Pharisee turns away from her in 
in horror and disgust. The grace of God at last touches her heart. She sees herself 
abandoned by all, she turns her despairing eyes to God. Friendless, homeless, and alone, 
she wanders through the dark by-ways af^this vallevpf-t oa « uB: i- H a t4ast she stands at the 
ever-open portals of the holy Catholic Cl mrcki^ phe enters, she falls at the feet of the 
priest of Jesus Christ. She weev^^Tie^epemfy she\s forgiven. 

See those pure virgin^ahffwj^^are jus fry callea the Daughters of the Good Shepherd ! 
ley have sworn before t^of God to devo^fTlietlWhole/lj^ to the reformation of 






3*9 




these poor outcasts of society, — these unhappy victims of a heartless world. See how 
gently they receive the fallen one, how kindly they treat her! See how she enters the 
i convent chapel, and at the very feet of Jesus, in tlVblessed^sacrament, she pours out 'll: 

and sighs, and tears!.-,. She experiences at l^s^tliat there is rest for the weai^^ 


$£hope foi>the- sinner; that there is indeed, a heaven on earth in the holy*^ 
Church. : 

W///Z Z zffi 1 ever y a £ e an< ^ * n evei 7 countr y through which the Catholic religi^^^as spread, 
there have been many Catholics who showed in their daily council 
with the words of St. Paul: “This is the will of God, your sancttfipatibjt^^' 
scrupulous keepers of the commandments of God, fulfilling the whole law and the 
How could it djjierwise ? Jesus Christ, in the blessed sacrament, — this div: 
the source of ail' sanctity, — never ceases to bring forth holy bishops, like St. 

Porromeo, St,,- Francis de Sales, St. Alphonsus Liguori; holy priests, like St. Vincent 
'//// Paul, St. Francis Xavier, St. Peter Claver; holy virgins, like St. Teresa, St. Catharine o 
Sienna, St. Zitta, St. Rose of Lima; holy widows, like St. Frances de Chantal; holy 
martyrs, like Borie, Gagelin, and so many others. 

That God confirmed the holiness of His servants by many miracles and extraordinary 
gifts, may be read in the Lives of the Saints or in any Church history. “Amen, amen, I 
say to you,” said Christ, “he that believeth in me, the works that I do he also shall do, c ^ 
and greater than these shall he do” (John 14: 12); and, “These signs shall follow them 
that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, 
they shall take up serpents, they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall 
recover” (Mark 16: 17-18). Accordingly, we read that Sts. Paphnutius, Remigius, Otto,^ 
Robert, Dominic, and many others, cast out the devil from possessed persons. Wherf^ 
St. Bernardine of Sienna, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis Xavier, and others, preached 
to an audience composed of people from different countries, every one believed he heard 
his own tongue spoken. St. Hilary, St. Magnus, St. Patrick, and others, banished snakes 
and other reptiles. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus moved a mountain to obtain a site for a 
church. St. Patrick, St. Martin, St. Benedict, St. Dominic, St. Anthony, St. Francis of 
Paula, and many others, raised dead persons to life. St. Francis Xavier raised twenty- 
five, and St. John Capistran, thirty dead persons to life. St. Stanislas the Martyr^ 
restored a man to life who had died three years before, and presented him before the 
court to testify that he had bought from him a certain piece of ground for his church and 
that he had paid him in full. 

The Catholic Church, then is holy in her doctrine and means of grace, she is holy in 
all those of her members who live up to her holy doctrine. She is holy: in.J.lie strem 
efforts which she has alyays made to put down errors, correct abuses, c 
cure all kinds of%yils// / Any one who reads, for instance, the acts of the Councils 
cannot fail to notjgjsrrhat one-half of its chapters treat of the great work of refo 
In this council the Church proscribes duels, reduces liturgies to unity, banishes profane 


airs and secular music from her temples, institutes seminaries for the education of the 

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clergy, establishes, at cathedrals, free-schools and lectures on holy Scripture, for the 
instruction of the people; she reminds her pastors that they are bound to continence, to 
residence, to frequent and diligent preaching; she interdicts all appearance of simony 
and venality in the distribution of ecclesiastical offices, in preaching indulgences and in 
administering the sacraments. 

Thus the tree is pruned but not uprooted; the pastors, those heavenly physicians, 
cure their patients but do not kill them ; the clergy and the religious orders are reformed 
but the priesthood and the religious state are not abolished; incontinence is suppressed 
though universal marriage is not preached ; the weeds in the field of the Lord are plucked 
up but the good seed is preserved. This is a reformation, not of the Church, but by the 
Church, — a reformation to bring about which, she was established by Christ; a reforma- 
tion which she accomplishes by her general councils, by her zealous bishops and holy 
priests, by her fervent religious orders and congregations of both sexes, and by so many 
pious confraternities. But the Church herself, her doctrine, her means of grace, her 
order of government, are all divine and holy, and therefore can never be reformed; it 
would be a monstrous impiety to say that she could be reformed. 

What a glorious Church is ours! What power but that of God could make her so 
divinely one in her faith, in her morality, in her worship, in her government? What 
holiness but that of the Lord could make her so holy in her Founder, in her doctrine, in 
her sacraments, in her members? What more natural than that the Lord of all power 
and of all holiness should make this Church Catholic, as to time, place, and doctrine ? But 


What does the word Catholic mean? 
The word Catholic means Universal. 


Show how the Roman Church is Catholic, or Universal. 

The Roman Church is Catholic: i, because she has existed in all ages; 2, because she 
teaches all nations; and, 3, because she maintains all truths. 

The Roman Church is Catholic because she has existed in all ages. This Church is 
Catholic, or universal, in her duration. She goes back without a break, through the 
apostles to Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ to the origin of the chosen people, and 
through Abraham and the patriarchs even to our first parents in paradise. The enemies 
of God hate His holy Church; they hate the pope, they hate the bishops and the priests; 
they grind their teeth, they foam at the mouth, they tremble with rage, and seem as if 
they would tear into pieces all the popes, bishops and priests that have ever lived, from 
Peter to the present day. Why? Because Jesus Christ continues to live in Peter, and in 
his successors; He speaks to the world and teaches it, through them, like one having 
authority. It is for this very reason that the Church will remain forever; for, truth and 
justice being in the end always victorious, the Church will not cease to bless and to 
triumph. All the works of the earth have perished, time has obliterated them. The 


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ndure until she passes from her earthly exile to 

Human theories and systeny across her path like birds of night, b 

have vanished; numberless sectsV]iave, J^^^^^any waves, dashed themselves to fro, 
against this rock, or, recoiling, have beeirMat^yn the vast ocean of forgetfulness. King- 
doms and empires that once existed in inimitable worldly grandeur are no more ; dynasties 
have died out and have been replaced by others. Theories and sceptres and crowns have 
withstood the Church; but, immutable, like God, who laid her foundation, she is the 
firm, unshaken centre, round which the weal and woe of nations move; weal to them if 
they adhere to her, 4 woe to them if they separate from her. If the world takes from the 
Catholic Church the cross of gold, she will bless the world with one of wood. If necessary, 
her pastors and all her children can suffer and die for the faith, but the Catholic Church 
remains, she is immortal. 

We cannot but smile when we hear men talk of the downfall of the Catholic Church. 
What could hell and its agents do more than they have already done for her destruction ? 
They have employed tortures for the body but they could not reach the spirit ; they hav 
tried heresy or the denial of revealed truth to such an extent that we can see no room for 
any new heresy; they have, by the hand of schism, torn whole countries from the unity 
of the Church; but what she lost on one side of the globe, she gained tenfold on the 
other. All these assaults have ignominously failed to verify the prophecies of hell, tha 
“ the Catholic Church shall fall.” 

Look, for instance, at the tremendous effort of the so-called Reformation, together 
with its twin sister, the unbelief of the nineteenth century! Whole legions of Church 
reformers, together with armies of philosophers armed with negation, and a thousand 
and-one systems of paganism, furiously attacked the Chair of Peter and swore that the 
Papacy should fall, and with it, the whole Church. Three hundred years are over, and 
the Catholic Church is still alive and more vigorous than ever. She is the glorious Churc 
of all ages. And as Christ made her Catholic or universal as to time, so also He made her 
Catholic as to place. 

She teaches all nations: “ Going, therefore,” said our Lord to His apostles, ‘‘teach ye 
all nations;” and, “You shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and 
Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.” More than fifteen hundred years 
'ago there hung in the catacombs of Rome a lamp shaped in the form of a ship, at whose 
helm sat St. Peter steering with one hand, and with the other giving his blessing. On 
one side of this miniature ship were engraved the words, “Peter dies not;” and on th^ 
other, the words of our Saviour, “ I have prayed for thee” (Luke 22:32). 

There could not be a more beautifuLsymbol of the Catholic Church. She is the lamp 
hich has dispelled the darkries1TbiT|eathem£m and Iras fur-pished the nations with 
brilliant light of truth ^. tRe^jliurchs^ a shjp ryliich has cjirrietJ this light safely throug 
the storms of a^es tp^hean^saf the ^atth, bnfcf^n^jyjth it biasings to the nations * - 
^ " v t as it sailed along, tha perishing yhildrep of men. And 

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the helm sits the poor fisherman of Galilee, St. Peter, in the person of the pope, together 
with his assistants, the Catholic bishops and priests, directing the course of the vessel 
now to this, now to that distressed country, now to this, now to that sorrowing people, 
to carry to them, not gold, not silver, but what is infinitely more precious, — faith; and 
with faith, true civilization, based upon the unchangeable principles of supernatural 
morality, true prosperity, true happiness, and peace on earth and for eternity. 

It was not by the circulation of the Bible, by Bible societies, or by money, but by the 
living voice of the Roman Church, — it was through the popes, the Catholic bishops and 
priests, that Christianity at the end of the third century covered the whole then known 
world. The Capitoline temple, and with it the many shrines of idolatry, the golden 
house of Nero, and with it Roman excess and Roman cruelty, the throne of the Caesars, 
and with it Roman oppression and Roman injustice, had all passed away, and there 
stood the Rome of the Fathers of the Church, — the Rome which has yet to do such 
wonders in the world. 

“And the light shone into the darkness.’’ Pope after pope, the principal bearers of 
the light of the true faith, sent forth to the nations bishops and missionaries full of the 
spirit of self-sacrifice, solely devoted to their great task; and by the inflamed zeal, the 
fervent piety, the earnest prayers and penances, the astounding miracles, the bright 
examples and spotless lives of these apostolic men, new tribes and new nations were 
gained for Christ year after year. Thus St. Austin carried the light of faith to England, 
St. Patrick to Ireland, St. Boniface to Germany. The Frieslanders, the Moravians, the 
Prussians, the Swedes, the Piets, the Scots, the Franks, and hundreds of others, were 
brought to the bosom of the Church through the preaching and labors of the bishops and 
priests of the Roman Catholic Church. Driven from one country their influence was 
made to act on another. When Solisman, the Sultan, threatened to wipe out Chris- 
tianity from Europe, Roman Catholic bishops and priests went to the East Indies, tO' 
China and Japan. When Europe failed in its fidelity and listened to the siren voice of 
heresy, Catholic bishops and priests were sent to the newly-discovered continent of 
America and to the West Indies. 

Gregory XVI devised plans for missions to the interior of Africa, — missions which 
are yet working wonders. This great work of enlightening the world with the true 
light of the Catholic religion the Church accomplished more particularly by those aston- 
ishing organizations called religious orders. 

Besides carrying the light of faith to all nations, those religious orders did another 
thing, they civilized the countries to which they had been sent. 

In the pagan world, education was an edifice built up on the principles of slavery „ 
The motto was: “ I hate and shun the common people.” Education was the privilege 
of the aristocracy. The great mass of people was studiously kept in ignorance of the 
treasures of the mind. This state of things was done away with by the Roman Catholic 
Church when she established the monastic institutions of the West. The whole of Europe 
was soon covered with schools, not only for the wealthy but even for the poorest of the 

3 2 3 



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poor. Education was systematized, 
the world had never seen before. Italy, Germa 
their universities; but, side by side wit^ thesef^teir 
village schools as numerous as the churches a $4 monasteries 
Holy See had scattered with lavish hand afflfcr %e rength and brea' 

And where was the source of light? At Rome. For, when the barbarian 

hordes poured down upon Europe frUat^the Caspian Mountains, it was the popes who 
saved civilization. They collected in the Vatican, the manuscripts of the ancient authors 
gathered from all parts of the earth at enormous expense. The barbarians who destroyed 
everything by fire and sword, had already advanced as far as Rome. Attila, who called 
himself “the Scourge of God,” stood before its walls; there were no emperor, no pretorian 
guard, no legions present to save the ancient capital of the world. But there was a pope: 
Leo I. And Leo went forth, and by entreaties and threats of God’s displeasure induced 
the dreaded king of the Huns to retire. Scarcely had Attila retired, before Genseric, 
King of the Vandals, made his appearance, invited by Eudoxia, the empress, to the 
plunder of Rome. Leo met him and obtained from him the lives and honor of the 
Romans, and the sparing of the public monuments which adorned the city in such 
numbers. Thus Leo the Great saved Europe from barbarism. To the name of Leo 
might be added those of Gregory I, Sylvester II, Gregory XIII, Benedict XIV, Julius III, 
Paul III, Leo X, Clement VIII, John XX, and a host of others who must be looked 
upon as the preservers of science and the arts, even amid the very fearful torrent of 
barbarism that was spreading itself like an inundation over the whole of Europe. The 
principle of the Catholic Church has ever been this: “ By the knowledge of divine things 
and the guidance of an infallible teacher, the human mind must gain certainty in regard 
to the sublimest problems, the great questions of life; by them the origin, the end, the 
aim and limit of man’s activity must be made known, for then only can he venture 
fearlessly upon the sphere of human efforts, human developments, and human science.” 
Truly, never has science gained the ascendancy outside of the Church that it has always 
held in the Church. And what is true of science is true also of the arts. It is true of 
architecture, sculpture, and of painting. We need only point to the Basilica of Peter, 
to the museums and libraries of Rome. It is to Rome the youthful artist always turns 
his steps in order to drink in, at the monuments of art and of science, the genius and 
^ inspiration he seeks for in vain in his own country. He feels only too keenly, that 
lilroads, telegraphs, steamships and power-looms, banking-houses and stock-companies, 
though good and useful institutions, are not the mothers of genius nor the schools of 
inspiration; therefore he leaves his country and goes to Rome, a*ld there feasts on the 



fruits gathered by the hands of St. Peter’s successors, and 
which will live for ages in the memory of those who hav^ 
true and the beautiful. 

The depravity of man shows itself in the constar 
placed by law and duty upon his will; and 

3 ? 


s home with a name 
r ed to appreciate the 


o shake off the restraint 
scribe the licentiousness 












which has at all times afflicted society. Passion acknowledges no law and spares neither 
rights nor conventions; where it has the power, it exercises it to the advantage of self 
and to the detriment of social order. The Church is, by its very constitution, Catholic 
and hence looks upon all men as brothers of the same family. She acknowledges not the 
natural right of one man over another, hence her Catholicity lays a heavy restraint upon 
all the efforts of self-love, and curbs with a mighty hand, the temerity of those who would 
destroy the harmony of life implied in the idea of Catholicity. 

One of the first principles of all social happiness is that before the law of nature and 
before the face of God, all men are equal. This principle is based on the unity of the 
human race, the origin of all men from one common father. If we study the history of 
paganism, we find that all heathen nations overturned this great principle, since we find 
among all heathen nations the evil of slavery. Prior to the coming of Christ, the great 
majority of men were looked upon as a higher development of the animal, as ani- 
mated instruments, which might be bought and sold, given away and pawned; which 
might be tormented, maltreated, or murdered; as beings, in a word, for whom the 
idea of right, duty, pity, mercy, and law had no existence. Who can read without a 
feeling of intense horror, the accounts left to us of the treatment of their slaves by the 
Romans? There was no law that could restrain in the least the wantonness, the cruelty, 
the licentious excess of the master, who, as master, possessed the absolute right to do 
with his slaves whatsoever he pleased. To remove this stain of slavery has ever been 
the aim of the Catholic Church. “Since the Saviour and Creator of the world,” says 
Pope Gregory I, in his celebrated decree, “wished to become man, in order, by grace and 
liberty, to break the chains of our slavery, it is right and good to bestow again upon man, 
whom nature has permitted to be born free but whom the law of nations has brought 
under the yoke of slavery, the blessing of his original liberty.” Through all the middle ages, 
— called by Protestants the dark ages of the world , — the echo of these words of Gregory I 
is heard; and, in the thirteenth century, Pope Pius II could say: “Thanks be to God and 
the Apostolic See, the yoke of slavery does no longer disgrace any European nation.” 
Since then, slavery was again introduced into Africa and the newly-discovered regions of 
America and again the popes raised their voices in the interests of liberty. Pius VII, even 
at the time when Napoleon had robbed him of his liberty and held him captive in a 
foreign land, became the defender of the negro. Gregory XVI, on the 3d of November, 
1839, insisted, in a special Bull, on the abolition of the slave trade and spoke in a strain as if 
he had lived and sat side by side with Gregory I, thirteen hundred years before. But 
here let us observe that not only the vindication of liberty for all, not only the abolition 
of slavery, but the very mode of action followed in this matter by the popes has gained 
for the Church immortal honor, and the esteem of all good men. When the Church 
abolished slavery in any country where it existed, the popes did not compel masters, by 
harshness or threats, to manumit their slaves; they did not bring into action the base 
intrigues, the low chicanery, the canting hypocrisy, of modern statesmen; they did not 
raise armies and send them into the lands of their masters to burn and to pillage, to lay 

3 2 5 









waste and destroy ; they did not slaughter by their schemes, over a million of free men and 
another million of slaves; they did not make widows and orphans without number; they 
did not impoverish the land and lay upon their subjects burdens which would crush them 
into very dust. Nothing of all this. That is not the way in which the Church abolished 
slavery. The popes sent bishops and priests into those countries where slavery existed, 
to enlighten the minds of the masters, and convince them that slaves were men and 
consequently had immortal souls like other people. The pastors of the Church infused 
into the hearts of masters a deep love for Jesus Christ and consequently a deep love for 
souls. They taught masters to look upon slaves as created by the same God, redeemed 
by the same Jesus Christ, destined for the same glory. The consequence was, that the 
relations of slave and master became the relations of brother to brother; the master 
began to love his slave and to ameliorate his condition, till at last, forced by his own 
acknowledged principles, he granted to him his liberty. Thus it was that slavery was 
abolished by the preaching of the popes, bishops and priests. The great barrier to all 
the healthy, permanent, and free development of nations was thus broken down; the 
blessings, the privileges of society, were made equally attainable by the masses and 
ceased to be the special monopoly of a few, who, for the most part, had nothing to 
recommend them except their wealth. 

It is thus that the Catholic Church has accomplished the great work of enlightening 
society. ' She has shed the light of faith over the East and West, over the North and 
South, and with the faith she has established the principles of true science on their 
natural bases. She has imparted education to the masses wherever she was left free to 
adopt her own, and untrammeled by civil interference. She has fostered and protected 
the arts and the sciences; and to-day, if all the liberties, all the museums, and all the 
galleries of art in the world were destroyed, Rome alone would possess quite enough to 
supply the want, as it did in former ages, when others supplied themselves by plundering 
Rome. She has abolished slavery and established human freedom. She truly is what 
she is called : Catholic for all ages, Catholic for all nations, and — 

She is Catholic because she maintains all truths. 

The Roman Church is universal, or catholic, as to doctrine. Her doctrine is the 
same everywhere. What she teaches in one country, she also teaches in another. Her 
doctrine in one place is her doctrine in another. There can be in the Roman Church no 
new doctrine, no local belief, no creed in which the whole Church has not been united — 
the Church uniting to condemn all variations from this belief. New discipline, new 
practices, new orders, new methods, may be adopted by the Church according to the 
requirements of her work, but there can be no doctrine which has not existed from the 
beginning, as it was received from Christ and the apostles. A doctrine, to be truly 
Catholic, must have been believed in all places, at all times, and by all the faithful. By 
this test of catholicity, or universality, antiquity and consent, all questions of faith are 
tried and decided. Doctrines and articles of faith may be newly defined, as for instance 
jjhat of the Immaculate Conception or of the Infallibility of the Pope, but there can be 

326 














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N ovelty is a quality of heresy ; for, though some^w=«r^-«ia v be very 
^compared with the truth. In every ca^ej the truth*rmJ§§^flrst 
its corresponding error. The denial of any truth supposes its pre 
Like the divine Founder of the Roman Catholic Church, hei^dTO^sine is 
•ey day, to-day, and forever. 

Some years ago,” writes Mr. Marshal, a distinguished English convert, ‘‘I 
Present, officially, at the examination of an English primary school in which the childn 
displayed such unusual accuracy and intelligence as long as the questions turnecP*&sd} 
upon secular subjects, that I was anxious to ascertain whether they could reason as wel 
about the truths of the Catechism as they could about those of grammar and arithmetic. 
I communicated my desire to their clergyman who kindly permitted me to have recourse 
to a test which I had employed on other occasions. I requested him to interrogate them 
on the Notes of the Church, and when they had explained in the usual manner the 
meaning of the word Catholic, I took up the examination, with the consent of the priest, 
and addressed the following question to the class: ‘You say the Church is Catholic 
ecause she is everywhere. Now I have visited many countries, in all parts of the 
world, and I never came to one in which I did not find heresy. If, then, the Church is 
Catholic because she is everywhere, why is not heresy Catholic, since heresy is every- 
where also?’ ‘If you please, sir,’ answered a little girl, about twelve years of age, ‘the 
Church is everywhere and everywhere the same; heresy may be everywhere too, but it is 
everywhere different.’ ” 

The Church is unceasingly assailed by new errors yet she always and everywhere is 
consistent with herself; she explains and develops her earlier definitions without even 
the shadow of change appearing; she has declared hundreds of times, that she can 
introduce no innovations, that she has no power to originate anything in matters of 
faith and morals, but that it is her right and office to maintain the divine doctrine as 
^'contained in Scripture and tradition. She has convoked nineteen General Councils, 
and in each pronounced a solemn anathema on all who in the least deviated from the 
faith. In all ages she has undergone the most cruel persecutions because she maintains 
all truths, and for this very reason she will be persecuted to the end of the world. But 
ther than yield one iota of her doctrine, she is willing to make every sacrifice, she 
permits whole countries to leave her, her pastors to be murdered, her children to be 
imprisoned and exiled, rather than permit one tittle of the law to be abolished. See, for 
instance, what she has done and suffered in upholding the dignity of the sacrament of 
marriage, — the corner-stone of society! 

See the workings of Catholic and Protestant doctrines of marriage in society! 
Take the common instance of a man in whose heart there is a fearful struggle between 
conscience on the one hand and blind, brutish passion on the other! His wife, — that 
wife whom he once loved so deariv^^ljg^^ecome hateful to him. Perhaps she has lost 
the charm of beauty whielg^^^mbse^ft &^^is heart. Another stands before him — 

ter of hell, whispers in his 



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ear: “Sue for a divorce. The marriage bond can be broken. Youth and beauty may 
yet be yours.” And the voice of conscience, the voice of God, is stifled. Brutish 
passion conquers. Divorce is sought and obtained, and the poor wife is cast away, and 
left heart-broken and companionless. And the children of such a marriage, — who shall 
care for them? Who shall teach them the virtues of obedience and charity? How can 
they respect a divorced mother, an adulterous father? No, these children become 
naturally the curse of society. They fill our prisons, our hospitals, the brothels. 

On the contrary, if that man is a Catholic, the holy Church speaks to him in solemn 
warning: “See!” she says, “you took that wife in the day of her early joy and beauty. 
She gave you her young heart before the altar. You swore before God and His angels 
to be faithful to her until death. I declare to you then, that at the peril of your immortal 
soul, you must keep that union perpetual. That union shall end only when you have 
stood by her death-bed, when you have knelt at her grave.” 

The Catholic Church has always regarded Christian marriage as the corner-stone of 
society; and at that corner-stone have the pastors of the Church stood guard for two 
thousand years, insisting that Christian marriage is one, holy and indissoluble. Woman, 
weak and unprotected, has always found at Rome that guarantee which was refused 
her by him who had sworn at the altar of God to love her and to cherish her till death. 
Whilst in the nations which Protestantism tore from the bosom of the Church, the sacred 
laws of matrimony are trampled in the dust; whilst the statistics of these nations hold 
up to the world the sad spectacle of divorces almost as numerous as marriages, of separa- 
tions of husband from wife, and wife from husband for the most trivial causes, thus 
granting to lust the widest margin of license, and legalizing concubinage and adultery; 
whilst the twentieth century records in its annals the existence of a community of 
licentious polygamists within the borders of one of the most civilized countries of the 
earth, we have yet to see the decree emanating from Rome that would permit even a 
beggar to repudiate his lawful wife in order to give his affections to an adulteress. 

The female portion of our race would always have sunk back into a new slavery, had 
not the popes entered the breach for the protection of the unity, the sanctity, the indis- 
solubility of matrimony. In the midst of the barbarous ages, during which the conqueror 
and warrior swayed the sceptre of empire, and kings and petty tyrants acknowledged no 
other right but that of force, it was the popes that opposed their authority, like a wall of 
brass, to the sensuality and the passions of the mighty ones of the earth, and stood forth 
as the protectors of innocence and outraged virtue, as the champions of the rights of 
women, against the wanton excesses of tyrannical husbands, by enforcing, in their full 
severity, the laws of Christian marriage. If Christian Europe is not covered with harems, 
if polygamy has never gained a foothold in Europe, if, with the indissolubility and 
sanctity of matrimony, the palladium of European civilization has been saved from 
destruction, it is all owing to the pastors of the Church. “If the popes,” says the 
Protestant Von Muller, “could hold up no other merit than that which they gained by 
protecting monogamy against the brutal lusts of those in power, notwithstanding bribes, 

328 


threats, and persecutions, that fact alone would render them immortal for all future 

ages.” 

And how had they to battle till they had gained this merit? What sufferings had 
they to endure, what trials to undergo? When King Lothair, in the ninth century, 
repudiated his lawful wife, in order to live with a concubine, Pope Nicholas I at once 
took upon himself the defence of the rights and of the honor of the unhappy wife. All 
the arts of an intriguing policy were plied, but Nicholas remained unshaken; threats 
were used, but Nicholas remained firm. At last the king’s brother, Louis II, appears 
with an army before the walls of Rome in order to compel the pope to yield. It is 
useless — Nicholas swerves not from the line of duty . Rome is besieged, the priests and 
people are maltreated and plundered, sanctuaries are desecrated, the cross is torn down 
and trampled under foot, and, in the midst of these scenes of blood and sacrilege, Nicholas 
flies to the Church of St. Peter. There he is besieged by the army of the emperor for 
two days and two nights, left without food or drink ; he is willing to die of starvation on 
the tomb of St. Peter rather than yield to a brutal tyrant and sacrifice the sanctity of 
Christian marriage, the law of life, of Christian society. And the perseverance of 
Nicholas I was crowned with victory. He had to contend against a licentious king who 
was tired of restraint; against an emperor, who, with an army at his heels, came to 
enforce his brother’s unjust demands; against two councils of venal bishops: one at 
Metz, the other at Aix-la-Chapelle, who had sanctioned the scandals of the adulterous 
monarch. Yet w r ith all this opposition and the suffering it cost him, the pope succeeded 
in procuring the acknowledgment of the rights of an injured woman. And during 
succeeding ages we find Gregory V carrying on a similar combat against King Robert, 
and L'rban II against King Philip of France. In the thirteenth century, Philip Augustus, 
mightier than his predecessors, set to work all the levers of power in order to move the 
pope to divorce him from his wife, Ingelburgis. Hear the noble answer of the great 
Innocent III: — 

‘‘Since, by the grace of God, we have the firm and unshaken will never to separate 
ourselves from justice and truth, neither moved by petitions nor bribed by presents, 
neither induced by love nor intimidated by hate, we will continue to go on in the royal 
path, turning neither to the right nor to the left; and we judge without any respect 
to persons, since God Himself does not respect persons.” 

After the death of his first wife, Isabella, Philip Augustus wished to gain the favor 
of Denmark by marrying Ingelburgis. The union had hardly been solemnized, when he 
wished to be divorced from her. A council of venal bishops assembled at Compiegne, 
and annulled his lawful marriage. The queen, poor woman, was summoned before her 
judges, and the sentence was read and translated to her. She could not speak the 
language of France, so her only cry was, “ Rome!” And Rome heard her cry of distress 
and came to her rescue. Innocent III needed the alliance of France in the troubles in 
which he was engaged with Germany, Innocent III needed the assistance of France for 
the Crusade; yet Innocent III sent Peter of Capua as legate to France. A council is 

3 2 9 



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V—- - / 







convoked by the legate of the pope; Philip refuses to appear, in spite of the summons, 
and his whole kingdom is placed under interdict. Philip’s rage knows no bounds; 
bishops are banished, his lawful wife is imprisoned, and the king vents his rage on the 
clergy of France. The barons, at last, appeal to the sword. The king complains 
to the pope of the harshness of the legate; and when Innocent only confirms the sentence 
of the legate, the king exclaims, “ Happy Saladin! he had no pope!” Yet the king was 
forced to obey. When he asked the barons assembled in council, ‘‘What must I do?” 
their answer was, ‘‘Obey the pope; put away Agnes, and restore Ingelburgis.” And, 
thanks to the severity of Innocent III, Philip repudiated his concubine, and restored 
.'Ingelburgis to her rights, as wife and queen. 

Hear what the Protestant Hurter says in his Life of Innocent: “If Christianity has 
not been thrown aside as a worthless creed, into some isolated corner of the world? 
if it has not, like the sects of India, been reduced to a mere theory, if its European vitality 
has outlived the voluptuous effeminacy of the East, it is due to the watchful severity of 
the Roman Pontiffs — to their increasing care to maintain the principles of authority if 
the Church.” 

As often as we look toward England we are reminded of the words of Innocent III to* 
hilip Augustus. We see Clement using them as his principles in his conduct toward the/ 
yal brute, Henry VIII. Catharine of Aragon, the ’lawful wife of Henry, had beef 
epudiated by her disgraceful husband and it was again to Rome she appealed for pro-' 
tection. Clement remonstrated with Henry. The monarch calls the pope hard names. 
Clement repeats, “ Thou shalt not commit adultery! ” Henry threatens to tear England 
from the Church — he does it; still Clement insists, “Thou shalt not commit adultery!” 
The blood of Fisher and More is shed at Tyburn ; still the pope repeats, “ Thou shalt not 
commit adultery ! ” The firmness of the pope cost England’s loss to the Church. It cost 
the pope bitter tears, and he prayed to heaven not to visit on the people of England the 
crimes of the despot, he prayed for the conversion of the nation; but to sacrifice the 
sanctity, the indissolubility of matrimony, — that he could never do; to abandon helpless 
woman to the brutality of men who were tired of the restraints of morality, — no, that the 
pope could never permit. If the court, if the palace, if the domestic hearth, refused a 
shelter, Rome was always open, a refuge to injured and down-trodden innocence. 

“One must obey God more than man.” This has ever been the language of the 
Church, whenever there was question of defending the laws of God against the powers of 
the earth, and in thus defending the laws of God, she has always shown herself Catholic. 

Oh, how sad would be the state of society were the popes, the bishops and priests to 
be banished from the earth ! The bonds that unite the husband and wife, the child and 
the parent, the friend and the friend would be broken. Peace and justice would flee 
from the earth. Robbery, murder, hatred, lust, and all the other crimes condemned by 
the Gospel would prevail. Faith would no longer elevate the souls of men to heaven. 
Hope, the sweet consoler of the afflicted, of the widow and the orphan, would flee away, 


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sweet virtue of charity, if the popes, the bishops, and priests were to disappear forever? 
Where would we find that charity which consoles the poor and forsaken, which lovingly 
dries the tears of the widow and the orphan, — that charity which soothes the sick man 
in his sufferings and binds up the wounds of the bleeding defender of his country ? Where 
would we find that charity which casts a spark of divine fire into the hearts of so many 
religious, bidding them abandon home, friends, and everything that is near and dear to 
them in this world, to go among strangers, among savage tribes, and gain there, in return 
for their heroism, nothing but outrage, suffering, and death? Where, I ask, would we 
find this charity, if the popes, the bishops, and priests were to disappear forever? 

Let a parish be for many years without a priest, and the people thereof will become 
the blind victims of error, of superstition, and of all kinds of vices. Show me an age, 
a country, a nation, without priests, and I will show you an age, a country, a nation 
without morals, without virtue. Yes, if “religion and science, liberty and justice, 
principle and right,” are not empty sounds — if they have a meaning, they owe their 
energetic existence in the world to the “salt of the earth,” — to the popes, bishops, and 
priests of the Catholic Church. 

Finally, the Church, one, holy and Catholic, is also apostolic. Now, should some 
one ask: 

Show how the Catholic Church is apostolic. 

The Catholic Church is apostolic, because her chief pastor, the pope, is the lawful 
successor of St. Peter, and the bishops are the lawful successors of the other apostles, from 
whom they have their doctrine, their orders, and their mission, through an unbroken succession 
of bishops. 

The Catholic Church can show precisely how she obtained possession of the divine 
authority of the apostles. The Roman Pontiff, Leo XIII, can name the two hundred 
and fifty-four Popes who, without a break, handed down the authority of St. Peter, the 
head of the apostles, even to himself. He can tell the day and hour of his election and 
consecration, which are consigned to imperishable monuments. 

Every bishop of the Catholic Church can also show the authentic titles which prove 
the transmission of the apostolic authority from the pontiff who founded his Church 
down to himself, the validity of his ordination, and the legitimate character of his 
mission. Every priest receives his authority from his bishop. Thus there is not a 
break in those glorious lines of bishops, which each episcopal see, and above all sees, 
that of Peter, can show alike to friend and foe. Here nothing is arbitrary, nothing 
uncertain. The apostolic ministry is perpetuated under the presidency of the head of 
the apostles, with the perpetual presence and assistance of Him who promised to be 
with His own, even to the end of the world. Thus the authority of the minister of our 
altars does not depend on the power of any temporal monarch nor on the people; it 
depends solely on the head and chief pastor in the apostolical hierarchy. What noble 

33 i 





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independence this! It is the security of the faithful, and constitutes both the greatness 
of the Church and the dignity of her pastors. 

In the beginning of the thirteenth century the Pope sent ambassadors to the famous 
Tartar monarch, Jengis Khan. The Tartars asked the ambassadors, “Who is the pope? 
Is he not an old man at least five hundred years of age? ” They might have said twelve 
hundred, and they would have been right; for, as Pius IX has said so truly, “Simon 
may die, but Peter lives forever:” and Peter will live until time shall have ended its 
course. Leo XIII is to us Peter; for each pontiff as he comes, reigns upon Peter’s 
throne, speaks with his voice, binds and looses with his hands, opens and closes the 
kingdom with the keys which Peter once took from the pierced hands of his divine 
Master; and he will hold those keys of life and death till the number of the elect is 
filled and the last of the redeemed enters his Father’s house. 

The Church taught and governed in our days by the pope and bishops differs not in 
its essential character from the Church taught and governed by Peter and the apostles. 
Let us see how Peter exercises the authority conferred on him, and, through him, upon 
all his successors, by Jesus Christ. After the resurrection of our Saviour who appeared 
to Peter first of all the apostles, he is the first to proclaim that resurrection to all the 
people, and he confirms the truth of his testimony by a miracle (Acts 2: 14; and 3:15). 
After the ascension of our Lord, Peter assembled the apostles and some disciples in the 
upper chamber and addressed them thus: “The Scripture must needs be fulfilled,” 
which foretells the defection of Judas and his place being taken by another. We there- 
fore must choose one from among us who has been a witness to the miracles and resur- 
rection of the Son of God, to take his place (Acts 1 : 16). Is the Gospel to be preached 
to the Gentiles? It is Peter to whom the solution of the difficulty is revealed, it is he 
who decides, “all holding their peace and giving glory to God” (Acts 3: 18). Peter 
first received the Gentiles into the Church (Acts 10) after having been the first to intro- 
duce the Jews into her sacred fold. At a later period the question of circumcision 
and the ceremonies of the law came up. Peter at once rose up, and explained the 
common faith. All listened in silence. A decree was made in which the faith on this 
point was determined forever. Peter visited the Christians of Joppe, Lydda, Galilee, 
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, etc. (Acts 9). Everywhere he founded 
new congregations of Christians and visited them all in his office of Supreme Pastor. 
From Jerusalem he went to Antioch, from Anitoch to Rome, where he combated the 
heresy of Simon the Magician, and finally sealed his glorious apostleship by dying a 
martyr’s death. 

As the lawful successor of the Prince of the Apostles, the pope decides without 
appeal, matters of faith and morals, convokes general councils, presides over and confirms 
them, founds churches, visits them in person or by his delegates, appoints bishops, 
confirms them in the faith, and acts in all as the Supreme Head and Pastor of the Catholic 
Church. Peter took possession for himself and his successors, of all the prerogatives 
and duties of the Sovereign Pontificate. 

332 






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Now let us see how the apostles exercise the authority conferred on them by Christ. 
From the Acts of the Apostles we learn that they teach and preach the Gospel, they 
baptize and impose hands — that is, give confirmation — they found churches and give 
them pastors; they choose one to succed Judas, in the Council of Jerusalem, they 
regulate whatever concerns faith and discipline, saying: “It has seemed good to the 
Holy Ghost and to us” (Acts 15: 82); they resolve difficulties and repress scandals 
that arise, and, if necessary, they excommunicate him who deserves to be cut off from 
the communion of the faithful till he truly repents; they command the Christians to 
avoid teachers who were not sent by Christ (Tit. 3 : 10), and to receive their oral traditions 
as well as their written instructions (II Thess. 2 : 14) ; they clearly teach that the Church 
is founded upon the apostolic ministry (Eph. 2: 20); that Christ appointed apostles, 
pastors, doctors, in a word, a teaching and governing body, to accomplish the work of 
sanctifying the elect, that “we be not carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 
4 : 1 2-14) ; they also teach that the Holy Ghost has appointed bishops to rule the Church 
of God (Acts 20:28); that the reading of holy scripture “is profitable ” to those especially 
who “teach and reprove others,” yet that they contain difficult passages, “which the 
unlearned wrest” from their true meaning “to their own destruction” (II Peter 3: 16). 
What is all this but precisely what the bishops of the Catholic Church practice to-day? 
They teach, decide on points of faith and morals, give confirmation, ordain priests; 
they govern, punish, excommunicate, grant indulgences, recommend the faithful not 
to become familiar with heretics; they assemble in council to regulate in matters con- 
cerning faith, morals, and discipline, and all this they do in the name of the Holy Ghost 
who has promised them his assistance. They teach that the unwritten word of God is 
to be received with the same faith as the written; and each bishop says with the great 
apostle, that he is “appointed by the Holy Spirit” to govern his Church. Thus we see 
that the Church of Jesus Christ, as described by St. Luke, St. Paul, St. James and the 
others, is precisely the same as the Church which is called one, holy, Catholic and 
Apostolic. Now, 


Why is the Catholic Church called Roman? 

The Catholic Church is called Roman : (1) because the visible head of the Church is 
Bishop of Rome; (2) because St. Peter and his successors fixed their see in Rome; (3) because 
all the Catholic Churches in the world profess their union with the Roman Church. 

The Catholic Church is called Roman because at Rome the pope as visible head 
of the Church, has fixed his see. St. Peter was the first Pope and first bishop of Rome. 
After having preached in Jerusalem and presided for seven years over the Church of 
Antioch, he left St. Ignatius in his place at Antioch, and went to Rome where he fixed 
his see. He was, however, often absent to perform his apostolical duties in other countries. 
He came to Rome in A. D. 40. Having remained there for some considerable time, he 
went back to the East but returned to Rome not long after. In 49, on account of 
some tumult raised by the Jews against the Christians, St. Peter and St. Paul were 













333 


banished from Rome by Claudius, but they were soon allowed to return. St. Peter 
returned again to the East, and in 51 was present at the General Council held at 
Jerusalem by the apostles, where, in a discourse, he showed that the Gentile converts 
were not bound by the Jewish ceremonies. St. Peter went back to Rome a few years 
previous to his martyrdom, in the reign of the Emperor Nero. But before his final 
return thither, he preached the Gospel over all Italy, and likewise in other provinces of 
the West. When again in Rome, he and St. Paul, by their prayer, put an end to the 
magical delusions of Simon Magus. Enraged at this, the tyrant Nero put both apostles 
into the Mamertine prison. After an imprisonment of eight months St. Peter was 
scourged and then crucified with his head downward. He chose this manner of cruci- 
fixion, because he believed himself unworthy to suffer and die in the same way as his 
divine Master. According to Eusebius and others, he held possession of the See of 
Rome for about twenty-five years, assisted by St. Paul, who shared with him the honor 
of having founded Christian Rome. 

St. Peter then, the Prince of the Apostles, who first occupied the Apostolic See, 
transmitted, by the command of God to the pontiffs, who even to the end of time should 
occupy his see, his primacy in the apostolate and in the pastoral charge, together with 
all the authority which he had received from God our Saviour. Hence the Greeks, in 
1274, subscribed this profession of faith which was presented to them by Gregory X: 
'‘The holy Roman Church possesses a supreme and complete primacy and authority 
over the whole Catholic Church; she acknowledges truly and humbly that she received 
it together with plenary authority, from the Saviour himself, in the person of Peter, 
the Prince or Head of the Apostles, of whom the Roman Pontiff is the successor; and 
as she is bound more than the other churches to defend the truth of religion, so, if any 
questions arise concerning the faith, they ought to be determined by her judgment. 
Whoever considers himself wronged in any matter which pertains to the Church can 
appeal to her tribunal; and in all the causes which relate to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 
recourse may be had to her judgment. All churches are subject to her, and the prelates 
who govern them owe respect and obedience to her. The plenitude of power belongs 
to her in such a manner that the other churches are admitted by her to a share in her 
solicitude. Several of these, especially the patriarchal churches, have been honored 
with various privileges by the Roman Church without prejudice to her prerogatives, 
which she must preserve whether in General Councils or in certain other cases” (Labbe, 
t. 11, p. 965). 

In the fourteenth century, it is true, several popes resided at Avignon, in France, 
yet they did not cease, on that account, to be the Bishops of Rome and the heirs of 
St. Peter. Rome is indeed the capital of Christendom, and is justly called the Eternal 
City, for it has always been the centre of Catholic unity and the see of the successors of 
St. Peter. 

From St. Peter’s time every succeeding head of the Church was Bishop of Rome, 
and, seated in the Chair of Peter, governed the Church as her Sovereign Pontiff, as the 


334 






... . . 

visible representative of ecclesia§5fca| unii^, as the supreme teacher and guardian 
the faith, as the supreme legislator and interpreter 6f the canons, as the legitimate 
superior of all bishops, as the final judge of councils, enjoying the primacy both of 
honor and jurisdiction; so that the pagan historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, styled 
Pope Liberius “the overseer of the Christian religion;” and the Fathers, the Councils, 
the Doctors of the Church, ecclesiastical writers, and the saints of all ages, have called 
the Bishop of Rome pope, that is, father, because he is the common spiritual father of 
all Christians. They have called him also the Most Holy Father, the Universal Bishop 
of the Church, the Vicar of Christ, the Pastor of pastors, the Judge of judges. They 
have given him the title of Sovereign Pontiff, because he is superior to all other pontiffs 
or bishops, not only as to honor, but also as to jurisdiction, and because he exercises 
supreme authority in the Universal Church. On account of this primacy or supremacy 
which the head of the Church has received immediately from God in the person of Peter, 
the Council of Trent defines that the faithful of whatever dignity — be they kings or 
emperors, bishops, primates, or patriarchs — owe him a real and true obedience. The 
same council declares that it pertains to him to provide the churches with pastors, to 
determine the impediments which make marriage null and to dispense with them, to 
convoke a General Council, to confirm its decrees, to resolve the doubts raised by them, 
to create cardinals, to appoint bishops, to watch over the reform of studies, to correct ( 
abuses, to decide the most grave causes in which bishops are concerned; he can reserve 
to himself the absolving from certain grave crimes, absolve those who have possessed 
themselves of ecclesiastical property: without his judgment nothing of importance can 
be established in the Church. 

Here it may be asked : 

Did this power of the Pope also include the power to depose temporal 

RULERS? 

The London Tablet, December 5, 1874, answers this question as follows: 

“We firmly believe that the deposing power actually exerted by more than one 
Roman Pontiff and owing its efficacy to the spontaneous assent of the Christian con- 
science, is manifestly included among the gifts of Peter. We believe it, among other 
reasons, because no power can be wanting to his supreme jurisdiction, of which the 
safety of the Christian commonwealth committed to his oversight, may at any time 
require the exercise. He is God’s vicegerent. The Church, which is God’s kingdom 
on earth, was built by her divine Founder ‘upon this rock.’ The Almighty Architect 
might have chosen another foundation, but he chose this, and the gates of hell have not 
been able to subvert it. It is true that St. Peter never used the deposing power, but 
that was because Christendom had not yetUegun to_£xist-; 4 t^S"equ-ally true that neither 
Leo XIII nor any of his successors ^are^v^likely to use it but this is because Christen- 
dom has ceased to exist. Thepe fs a-’gredttihost\of Christians — more than ever there 
were — but there is no longefiapy^hristenoom. Therms not in the whole world so 

335 











‘Peter is not dead.’ But if Christendom should ever be restored, which does not seem 
likely, we profess our unhesitating conviction that the deposing power of God’s Vicar 
would revive it. 

“When states were wholly Catholic, as they were for a good many centuries, when 
all men believed with the saints and martyrs, that it was to the pope the Almighty said, 
. ‘Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven;’ when -the supreme 
^ authority of the Holy See was at once the bulwark of thrones and part of the public law of 
Europe; when Caesar said to bishops, presided over by the papal legates, as Constantine, 
the master of the world, said to the Fathers at Nice, ‘ Nobody disputed that, as members 
of the Christian commonwealth, kings and princes were subject, by the law of God, 
to the authority of the Roman Pontiff.’ It was his office to restrain, by all the means 
which the decree of God and the faith of Christians gave him, any abuse of their power 
by which either the interests of religion or the just rights of Christian people were preju- 
diced. He was at once the guardian of the faith and the only invincible enemy of 
tyrants.” 

There is, therefore, among all true Catholics, but one unanimous voice as to the 
supreme authority of the head of the Roman Church, viz: that Jesus, the Son of God 
and of man, gave to Peter and his successors that fullness of jurisdiction and power which 
will keep the Church in safety till he comes back in the day of judgment, and to deny 
that supreme authority is to be at sea, drifting about with the currents of opinion, and 
tossed on the troubled waves of Protestantism, Calvinism, Quakerism, Mormonism, 
Spiritualism, and all the other isms and sophisms. 

Now in order that the great power and authority bestowed upon St.JPeter should 
ybe often present £0 our ihinds, that apostle is represented with keys in his hand. Ho 
"holds two: one a symbol of his jurisdiction, and the other of his orders. One key- is 
turned toward hea-^ffi to show that St. Peter had the power of opening or closing it ; the 
other is directed toward the earth to show that he had full authority over the faithful 
and the power of imposing laws upon them. 

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The pope, however, is not only the head of the Church, he is also a temporal prince. 
In the establishment of His Church, our divine Saviour did not consult the civil 
authorities; neither Herod nor Pilate was asked for approval. If those rulers had not 
lived at all, they could not have been more completely ignored, so far as establishing 
the Church, preaching and teaching the doctrine of Christ and performing all the offices 
of the Christian ministry go. Caesar and his officers had no voice in this. They had 
authority in the kingdoms of the world but none whatever in the kingdom of God. It 
was established, and to be spread and to last forever, whether they willed it or not. 
The apostles, especially the head of the apostles and their successors, are to exercise 
their power in perfect freedom. They are freely to teach what is true, freely to condemn 
what is false, freely to denounce the crimes of men and of governments, freely to con- 
stitute the hierarchy in various countries, freely to let persons have recourse to them 
in their doubts, and freely to reply to them ; freely to condemn those who refuse obedi- 
ence to the Church, freely to separate from the Church those who have separated 
themselves from her, by persisting in error or in disobedience, freely to define religious 
and moral truths, that is, give laws binding on minds in believing and on consciences 
in acting. The ruler of nations and the lord of many legions, though he had not been 
consulted at all in the establishment of the Church, was bound to hear her voice like 
the humblest peasant, and submit his soul to her guidance, under pain of eternal banish- 
ment from the presence of God. He might pretend to command when it was his duty 
to obey, but the mistake was sure to be disastrous to himself, as indeed the final result 
proved. 

When the divine Master had finished His work, and His Vicar reigned in His place, 
the independence of the spiritual power, in its own province, was, if possible, still more 
evident. We know what was the attitude of the apostles toward the State. In questions 
of the soul, they set it at naught. . They taught loyalty to Caesar in all that religion does 
not condemn, as their successors do at this day, so that among Christians was found a 
host of martyrs, but not a single conspirator or assassin; but when Caesar required 
disloyalty to God, the apostles and the Christians bade him defiance. They knew the 
penalty and accepted it. It was perfectly understood that Caesar, like other beasts of 
prey, had claws and teeth, and could use them. He did use them with considerable 
effect. He had soldiers, lictors, prisons, axes, and scaffolds. But such engines, destruc- 
tive as they were, could only hurt the flesh; and the apostles and Christians were told 
not to “fear them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soul.’’ They were 
warned that they would be “brought before governors,’’ but that they were not even 
to take thought what they would say. The divine Master would teach them what 
to say. 

The conditions of the combat between Christ and Caesar, between the spiritual and 
the secular power, will never cease. In order that the head of his Church might enjoy 
perfect freedom in the exercise of his power, under God’s providence the pope became 
a temporal prince. He obtained his. tempcisal .power before Constantine abandoned 


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Rome^awWHEp confirmed and completed by Charlemagne, more than a thousand'}- ea^s 
ago. God inspired Cbrijrtian 'princes to attach a principality to the Holy See, called , 
'the Patrimony of St>. Peter — the'Sta^tes"^ the Church: “It has been the will of God,” / 
says Pius IX., “that the princes of t h e^ea jjfex ev e n those who are not in communion / 
with the Church of Rome, should defend' mountain the temporal sovereignty of th€ 

'] Holy See, which has been, by a dispositibii. of divine Providence, enjoyed for many 
centuries by the Roman Pontiffs. The possession of that temporal dominion enables 
the reigning pope to exercise his supreme apostolical authority in the government of 
the Universal Church with that liberty which is necessary to fulfill the duties of his 
apostolical office, and procure the salvation of the flock of Christ” (Allocution, May 
io, 1850). 

The pope, then, possesses his territory under a title higher and older than any 
government in the world. Napoleon I sought to destroy this temporal power of the 
pope, but was forced at last to admit the necessity of papal independence: “The pope,” t 
1 I he said, “is not at Paris; it is well; we reverence his authority precisely because he 
, is not at Vienna nor at Madrid. At Vienna and at Madrid they feel the same with 
regard to Paris. It is, therefore, better that he should be neither with us nor with - 
any of our rivals, but in Rome, his ancient seat, holding an equal balance between all 
f sovereigns. This is the work of the centuries and they have done well. The temporal 
power is the wisest and best institution that could be imagined in the government t 
of souls.” 

The temporal dominion of the pope being a moral necessity for the well-being of . 
the Church, the Holy Father and the bishops have pronounced anathema against all 
N those who impugn it. History, indeed, sometimes shows us the Supreme Pontiff under 
, another aspect. There were times when his triple crown crumbled, when his sceptre 
shrunk to a hollow reed, when his throne became a shadow, and his home a dungeon, x 
But God permitted this only to show us how inestimable is human virtue when compared 
with human grandeur. Human grandeur may perish, but virtue is immortal. God \ 
permitted it to prove to the scoffing infidel world that the simplicity of the patriarchs, 
the piety of the saints, the patience of the martyrs, have not as yet vanished from the 
, earth. God permitted it, in fine, to show the rabid enemies of our holy faith that, 

Y (though our common father were in chains, though his motives were calumniated, and 

//^Though his kingly power were destroyed, yet the Church, the holy Catholic Church of 
, ? Jesus Christ, is still able to guide and to support her children, and to confound if she 
\\ cannot reclaim her enemies. ^ 

The pontiff is firm, immovable as a rock. No threats can awe, no promise can C 
-<kempt, no sufferings can appall him. With exile, the dungeon and death before his / 
e)>,es, he dashes away the proffered cup. in which-the -pearl of his liberty is to be dissolved : <*= 
“ K T on possumus,” is his bold and nobt<? language.^ “We can die, but we cannot give\ 
\Jup the rights of the 'Church.” Tfie Catholic/wqrld cannot and will not submit and 
s agree to the sacrilegious occupation 6r the' PapkTBtStes byS>any government. The ' 

1/ ^ ^ J ’ j 338 i'V oJUftvx \ 



voices of more than two hundred millions of Catholics will ring from every land under 
the sun, demanding perfect liberty of action for their common spiritual father, and the 
undisturbed possession of the Patrimony of St. Peter. The spirit of opposition to the 
temporal power of the pope is but the spirit of modern Paganism which aims at the 
destruction of civil government, the rights of justice, the law of God and of man. 

As the Papacy is of divine right, so also is the Episcopacy of divine right. Christ 
willed that there should be bishops to assist the pope in the government of the Church. 
For this reason St. Paul says: “The Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops to rule the 
Church of God.” The word “bishop” means overseer, inspector, or superintendent. 

The choice of a bishop has to be made, or at least to be confirmed, by the pope; 
from him each bishop holds his jurisdiction over the territory assigned to him by 
the pope. Episcopal jurisdiction has been instituted by Christ in such a manner that 
each bishop should receive his jurisdiction from the pope, who makes the bishops sharers 
in the power of the keys which Christ gave to Peter alone, and, in his person, to his 
successors: “The Lord,” says Tertullian, “has given the keys to St. Peter, and, through 
him, to the Church.” St. Gregory of Nyssa says the same, in other words: “Through 
Peter, Christ has given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to the bishops.” As Peter 
and his successors alone have received the keys of the kingdom of God, they alone can 
communicate the use of them to the rest of the pastors. From Peter and his successors 
the bishops hold the jurisdiction which they exercise in their dioceses; it is by him that 
they hold in their dioceses, the place of Christ, as priests, as pontiffs, as doctors, as legis- 
lators, as judges, as heads and pastors of the faithful under their jurisdiction, and are, 
as St. Paul says, ambassadors from Jesus Christ, God’s coadjutors, who exhort the 
faithful by their mouth; for all this is what constitutes jurisdiction. 

Episcopal consecration, however, is not necessary for the exercise of episcopal 
jurisdiction; all that is necessary is, that the election of a bishop should be confirmed 
by the pope. This confirmation of the pope gives to the bishop-elect canonical institution 
and confers on him jurisdiction over all the faithful of the territory which has been 
assigned to him. This jurisdiction, received from the pope, may also be taken away 
by the pope. Bishops, however, cannot be deprived of the power which is essentially 
connected with orders and the episcopal character, because that power is received 
immediately from God. Should, therefore, a bishop become a heretic, he still retains 
his episcopal character, in virtue of which he validly, though unlawfully, confers con- 
firmation, holy orders, and offers the holy sacrifice of the Mass. 

All bishops are on an equality as to their episcopal character, but the jurisdiction 
of some — of patriarchs, metropolitans, and archbishops — is more extended than that 
of others. This privilege of greater power is conferred by the pope alone, as he may 
think fit to grant to this or that bishop a greater or less share of the supreme authority 
which he holds over all the churches. 

In the early ages of the Church, the title patriarch (sovereign father, chief father) 
was given to the titular bishops of the sees of the most important cities, such as Alex- 

339 


/' ! 





andr’a, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Antioch . VStri^mUop Rome has always 
been considered the universal patriarch. TJie^^hops- pf'esfdirigxrver the capital cities 
of the empire were called metro politatiT^o ut, itif later times, archbishops, that is, chief f . y 
bishops. The patriarchal churches we® e4$a&ished by the ^ (Holy' See, wherein the 
power rests of extending or limitiruE^he jurisdiction of any bishop; for, “everything,” | 
says St. Leo, “which Christ has giWt* to the other bishops, has been given through , 
St. Peter.” 

Besides the pope and the bishops, there are other legitimate pastors called parish xy'~ 
priests, who are subject to their respective bishops; for, as the bishop possesses the ^ 

plenitude of the priesthood, he enjoys by divine right, that is, by Christ’s institution, a v / 

superiority not only of precedence and of honor, but even of authority, over all his ///d 
priests, who, without his good-will and pleasure, can do nothing in regard to ecclesiastical 
matters. He is the pastor of his whole diocese. He can, therefore, give to this or that iL Jji 
priest jurisdiction more or less extended. For good reasons he can also restrict the i 

jurisdiction which he had given, and even withdraw it altogether. j|iiV 

In the early ages of Christianity there w r as but one church in each city or town, Cgr 
in which the faithful assembled under the presidency of the bishop. But when, in the ^ 
course of time, the number of Christians had considerably increased, and bishops were 
unable to attend to the spiritual wants of their flock, dioceses were divided into parishes; <- k 
that is, a union of many families who assemble in a particular church called parochial Cc X 
church, to assist at the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and the other duties of religion. EacMC jf 
parochial church is attended by a priest called the parish priest, whose duty it is to' 
instruct the people in the way of salvation, and administer to them the sacraments ot\j 
baptism, holy eucharist, penance, matrimony, and extreme unction. From a custom ( . / 
long established, the parish priest can dispense his parishioners in matters of fasting and N v 
abstinence and in the observation of Sundays and holy days. Parish priests are often % 
assisted in their labor by other priests called vicars or coadjutors. Every parish, then, ’A 
has three immediate pastors: the pope, the bishop and the parish priest. 

All the particular churches in the world profess their union with the Church of 
Rome. She is the mistress of all others: “To be united with the See of Rome,” says Cl- , 
St. Cyprian, “is to be united with the Catholic Church, for the Church of Rome is the (( yJ 
principal Church; the Bishop of Rome, the chief bishop; the episcopal throne of this fj j 
Church is the throne of Peter, the source and centre of ecclesiastical unity; and therefore J'l 
all bishops of the world must, either directly or indirectly, be in communication with A ' 
Rome, in order that by thus communicating with her, the union of all may be preserved.” j 

And St. Irenaeus, who lived in the first century, declares that/ -instead of scrutinizing the 

j_i: j t... o I-* u: — .o • t. J V 


doctrine delivered by Christ and his apostles, and searcl 
inquire what is the teaching of the Church of Rome: /!) 
“that the wdiole Church — that is, the faithful of Hie 'kfo 
munion with this Church, on account of its m 
munion the faithful of the whole world ha/e p'r<aP(/tVed-tl 


ling tradition, it is enough to 
MrO/is necessary,” says he, 
blc world — should be in com- 
ful authority* in which com- 
te"tradition that was delivered 








At the beginning of the sixteenth century, with the exception of the Greek schis- 
matics, a few Lollards in England, some Waldenses in Piedmont, scattered Albigenses 
or Manicheans, and a few followers of Huss and Zisca among the Bohemians, all Europe 
was Roman Catholic. England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, 
Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Holland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden — 
every civilized nation was in the unity of the Catholic Church. Many of these nations 
were at the height of their power and prosperity. Portugal was pushing her discoveries 
beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and forming Catholic settlements in the East Indies. 
Christopher Columbus, a Roman Catholic, had discovered America, under the patronage 
of the Catholic Isabella of Spain. England was in a state of great prosperity. Her 
two Catholic Universities of Oxford and Cambridge contained, at one time, more than 
fifty thousand students. The country was covered with noble churches, abbeys, and 
monasteries, and with hospitals, where the poor were fed, clothed, and instructed. 






s/w 




^4 


by the apostles. When, therefore, you know the faith of this Church, you have also 
learned the faith of the others” (Contr. Hasret. 3 : 3, n. 2). “ Whoever,” says St. Jerome, 

is not in communion with the Church of Rome, is outside the Church” (Adv. Jovian., 
lib. 1, n. 26). 

The One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, then, unites all the dis- 
tinguishing marks of her divine institution and mission. Nowhere do these distinctive 
marks of the Church of Christ appear with more lustre than in those holy assemblies, 
called General Councils. The Church’s unity appears most strikingly in the union 6f 
all the members to the same supreme head who convoked the council, presides over it, 
confirms and executes its decrees. The sanctity of the Church is clearly seen in her 
condemnation of errors, and extirpation of abuses. The catholicity of the Church is 
seen in the convocation of the pastors of the whole Christian world ; and the apostolicity 
of the Church is manifest in the assembly of all the bishops, the successors of the apostles, 
who are convoked, heard, and called to judge in matters of faith and morals, to regulate 
discipline, to acknowledge the authority of tradition, to confirm the doctrine of the 
apostles, and, after their return to their respective dioceses, to communicate to their 
diocesans ‘‘what hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to them”; at which the 
hearts of all the faithful in the world are filled with consolation and joy, and deep gratitude 
toward Jesus Christ, who continues to speak to them through blessed Peter and the other 
apostles, in their lawful successors, the bishops of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and 
Roman Church. 

Can Protestant sects claim to be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic? 

By no means: 1, Because they have no infallible head and teacher, and every Protestant 
believes what he chooses to believe. 2, Because the founders of the sects were all wicked men, 
who taught impious doctrines. 3, Because they sprang up only long after Christ had founded 
His Church. 




However, the progress of civilization tended to foster a spirit of pride, and encourage 
the lust of novelties. The prosperity of the Church led to luxury, and in many cases 
to a relaxation of discipline. There were, as there always have been, in every period 
of the Church, the days of the apostles not excepted, bad men in the Church. The 
wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. The net of the Church encloses 
good and bad. The writings of Wickliffe, Huss, and their followers, had unsettled the 
minds of many. Princes were restive under the check held by the Church upon their 
rapacity and lusts. A Henry VIII, for example, wanted to divorce a wife to whom 
he had been married twenty years, that he might marry a young and pretty one. He 
could not do this, so long as he acknowledged the spiritual supremacy of the pope. 
Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, wanted two wives. No pope would give him a dispensation 
to marry and live with two women at once. Then there were multitudes of wicked and 
avaricious nobles, who wanted but an excuse to plunder the churches, abbeys, and 
monasteries, whose property was held in trust for the education of the people, and the 
care of the poor, aged and sick, all over Europe. Then there were priests and monks 
eager to embrace a relaxed discipline; and many people who, incited by the cry of 
liberty, were ready to rush into license, and make war upon every principle of religion 
and social order, as soon as circumstances would favor the outbreak of this rebel spirit 
in individuals and masses. Now when God, says St. Gregory, sees in the Church many 
reveling in their vices, and, as St. Paul observes, believing in God, confessing the truth 
of his mysteries, but belying their faith by their works, he punishes them by permitting 
that, after having lost grace they also lose the holy knowledge which they had of his 
mysteries, and that, without any other persecution than that of their vices, they deny 
the faith. It is of these David speaks, when he says: “ Destroy Jerusalem to its founda- 
tions” (Ps. 136: 7); leave not a stone upon a stone. When the wicked spirits have 
ruined in a soul the edifice of virtue, they sap its foundation, which is faith. St. Cyprian 
therefore, said: “Let no one think that virtuous men and good Christians ever leave 
the bosom of the Church; it is not the wheat that the winds lift, but the chaff; 
trees deeply rooted are not blown down by the breeze, but those which have no roots. 
It is rotten fruits that fall off the trees, not sound ones; bad Catholics become heretics, 
as sickness is engendered by bad humors. At first, faith languishes in them, because of 
their vices; then it becomes sick; next it dies, because, since sin is essentially a blindness 
of spirit, the more a man sins, the more he is blinded; his faith grows weaker and weaker; 
the light of this divine torch decreases and soon the least wind of temptation or doubt 
suffices to extinguish it.” Witness the great defection from faith in the sixteenth 
century, when God permitted heresies to arise, in order to exercise his justice against 
those who were ready to abandon the truth, and his mercy toward those who remained 
attached to it; to prove, by trials, those who were firm in the faith and to separate 
them from those who loved error; to exercise the patience and charity of the Church 
and to sanctify the elect; to give occasion for the illustration of religious truth and the 
holy Scripture; to make pastors more vigilant and value more the sacred deposit of 

342 









faith ;/in' fine, to_renfier the authority of tradition more clear aijtffincontest 

inaH'ilis strength; Martin Luther was its ringleader and its spokesman, 
fattin Luther, an Augustian friar, a bold man and a vehement 
erroneous sentiments from the heretical writings of John 
occasion, from the publication of indulgences promulgated by Pope Led\X 
$,¥'//' -bteak with the Catholic Church and to propagate his new errors, in 1517, at Wirtem 
- ’ in Saxony. He first inveighed against the abuse of indulgences, then he 

,^fi|festion their efficacy, and at last totally rejected them. He declaimed against 
supremacy of the See of Rome, and condemned the whole Church, pretending th 
Christ had abandoned it, and that it wanted reforming, as well in faith as discipline. 
Thus this new evangelist commenced that fatal defection from the ancient faith, which 
was styled “Reformation.” The new doctrines, being calculated to gratify the vicious 
inclinations of the human heart, spread with the rapidity of an inundation. Frederick, 
Elector of Saxony, John Frederick, his successor, and Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, 
became Luther’s disciples. Gustavus Ericus, King of Sweden, and Christian III, King 
^ of Denmark, also declared in favor of Lutheranism. It secured a footing in Hungary. 
Poland, after taking a great variety of doctrines, left to every individual the liberty of 
choosing for himself. Munzer, a disciple of Luther, set up for doctor himself, and, 
with Nicholas Stark, gave birth to the sect of Anabaptists, which was propagated 
in Suabia and other provinces of Germany, and in the Low Countries. Calvin, a 
man of bold, obstinate spirit and indefatigable in his labors, in imitation of Luther, 
turned Reformer also. He contrived to have his new tenets received at Geneva, 
in 1541. After his death, Beza preached the same doctrine. It insinuated itself into 
some parts of Germany, Hungary and Bohemia, and became the religion of Holland. 
It was imported into Scotland by John Knox, an apostate priest, where, under the name 
of Presbyterianism, it took deep root and spread over the kingdom. But, among the 
> deluded nations, none drank more deeply of the cup of error than England. For many 
centuries this country had been conspicuous in the Christian world for the orthodoxy 
of its belief, as also for the number of its saints. But by a misfortune never to be suffi- 
ciently lamented, and by unfathomable judgment from above, its Church shared a fate 
which seemed the least to threaten it. The lust and avarice of one despotic sovereign 
threw down the fair edifice and tore it off from the rock on which it had hitherto stood 
Henry VIII, at first a valiant asserter of the Catholic faith against Luther, giving way 
to the violent passions which he had not sufficient courage to curb, renounced the supreme 
\ jurisdiction which the pope had always held in the church, presumed to arrogate to 
f “himself that power in his own dominions, and thus gave a deadly blow to religion. 
\j He then forced his subjects into the same fatal defection. Once introduced it soon 
overspread the land. Being, from its nature, limited by no fixed principle, it has since 
taken a hundred different shapaf g l ttficler different names, such as: the Calvinists, 

assites, Haldanites, Bereans, 
cksites, Shakers, Panters, 

C\ 



Arminians, Antinomians, Indeperfcl 
Swedenborgians, N ew^jjerusalemi 




Seekers, Jumpers, Reformed Methodists, German Methodists, Albright Methodists, 
Episcopal Methodists, Wesleyan Methodists, Methodists North, Methodists South, 
Protestant Methodists, Episcopalians, High Church Episcopalians, Low Church Episco- 
palians, Ritualists, Puseyites, Dutch Reformed, Dutch non-Reformed, Christian 
Israelites, Baptists, Particular Baptists, Seventh-day Baptists, Hardshell Baptists, 
Softshell Baptists, Forty Gallon Baptists, Sixty Gallon Baptists, African Baptists, 
Free-will Baptists, Church of God Baptists, Regular Baptists, Anti-mission Baptists, 
Six Principle Baptists, River Brethren, Winebrennarians, Mennonites, Second Adventists, 
Millerites, Christian Baptists, Universalists, Orthodox Congregationalists, Campbellites, 
Presbyterians, Old School and New School Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, 
United Presbyterians, The Only True Church of Christ, 573 Bowery, N. Y., upstairs, 
fifth story, Latter-day Saints, Restorationists, Schwentfelders, Spiritualists, Mormons, 
Christian Perfectionists, etc. All these sects called Protestants, because they all unite 
in protesting against their mother, the Roman Catholic Church. 

Some time after, when the reforming spirit had reached its full growth, Dudithius, 
a learned Protestant divine, in his epistle to Beza, wrote: “What sort of people are our 
Protestants straggling to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, sometimes 
to this side, sometimes to that? You may, perhaps, know what their sentiments in 
matters of religion are to-day, but you can never tell precisely what they will be 
to-morrow. In what article of religion do these churches agree which have cast off 
the Bishop of Rome? Examine all from top to bottom, and you will scarce find one 
thing affirmed by one which was not immediately condemned by another for wicked 
doctrine.” The same confusion of opinions was described by an English Protestant, the 
learned Dr. Walton, about the middle of the last century, in his preface to his Polyglot, 
where he says: “Aristarchus heretofore could scarce find seven wise men in Greece; 
but with us, scarce are to be found so many idiots. For all are doctors, all are divinely 
learned; there is not so much as the meanest fanatic who does not give you his own 
dreams for the word of God. The bottomless pit seems to have been opened, from 
whence a smoke has arisen which has darkened the heaven and the stars, and locusts 
have come out with stings, a numerous race of sectaries and heretics, who have renewed 
all the ancient heresies, and invented many monstrous opinions of their own. These 
have filled our cities, villages, camps, houses, nay, our pulpits, too, and lead the poor 
deluded people with them to the pit of perdition.” “Yes,” writes another author, 
“every ten years, or nearly so, the Protestant theological literature undergoes a complete 
revolution. What was admired during the one decennial period is rejected in the next, 
and the image which they adored is burnt to make way for new divinities; the dogmas 
which were held in honor fall into discredit; the classical treatise of morality is 
banished among the old books out of date; criticism overturns criticism; the com- 
mentary of yesterday ridicules that of the previous day, and what was clearly 
proved in 1840, is not less clearly disproved in 1850. The theological systems of 
Protestantism are as numerous as the political constitutions of France — one revolution 


344 











only awaits another.” It is indeed utterly impossible to keep the various members of 
one single sect from perpetual disputes, even about the essential truths of revealed 
religion. And those religious differences exist not only in the same sect, not only in 
the same country and town, but even in the same family. Nay, t'he self-same individual, 
at different periods of his life, is often in flagrant contradiction with himself. To-day 
he avows opinions which yesterday he abhorred, and to-morrow he will exchange these 
again for new ones. At last, after belonging successively to various new-fangled sects, 
he generally ends by professing unmitigated contempt for them all. By their continual 
disputes and bickerings, and dividing and subdividing, the various Protestant sects have 
made themselves the scorn of honest minds, the laughing-stock of the pagan and the 
infidel. 

These human sects, the ‘‘works of the flesh,” as St. Paul calls them, alter their shape 
like clouds, but feel no blow, says Marshall, because they have no substance. They 
fight a good deal with one another, but nobody minds it, not even themselves, nor cares 
what becomes of them. If one human sect perishes, it is always easy to make another, 
or half a dozen. They have the life of worms, and propagate by corruption. Their 
life is so like death that, except by the putridity which they exhale in both stages, it is 
impossible to tell which is which, and when they are buried, nobody can find their grave. 
They have simply disappeared. 

The spirit of Protestantism, or the spirit of revolt against God and his Church, 
sprung up from the Reformers’ spirit of incontinency, obstinacy and covetousness. 
Luther, in despite of the vow he had solemnly made to God of keeping continency, 
married a nun, equally bound as himself to that sacred religious promise; but, as St. 
Jerome says, ‘‘it is rare to find a heretic that loves chastity.” 

As a few specimens of Luther’s doctrine, take the following: “ God’s commandments 
are all equally impossible.” “No sins can damn a man, but only unbelief.” “God is 
just, though by His own will He lays us under the necessity of being damned, and though 
He damns those who have not deserved it.” “God works in us both good and evil.” 
“Christ’s body is in every place, no less than the divinity itself.” Then for his darling 
principle of justification by faith, in his eleventh article against Pope Leo, he says: 
“ Believe strongly that you are absolved, and absolved you will be, whether you have 
contrition or no.” 

Again, in his sixth article: “The contrition which is acquired by examining, recol- 
lecting, and detesting one’s sins, whereby a man calls to mind his life past, in the bitterness 
of his soul, reflecting on the heinousness and multitude of his offences, the loss of eternal 
bliss, and condemnation to eternal woe — this contrition, I say, makes a man a hypocrite, 
nay, even a greater sinner than he was before.” 

Thus, after the most immoral life, a man has a compendious method of saving 
himself by simply believing that his sins are remitted through the merits of Christ. 

As Luther foresaw the scandal that would arise from his own and such like sacri- 
legious marriages, he prepared the world for it by writing against the celibacy of the 

345 









V, 





clerg}^ and all religious vows; and all the way up, since his time, he has had imitators. 

He proclaimed that all such vows “were contrary to faith, to the commandments of 
God, and to evangelical liberty.” He said again: “God disapproves of such a vow of 
living in continency, equally as if I should vow to become the mother of God, or to 
create a new world.” And again: “To attempt to live unmarried, is plainly to fight 
against God.” 

Now, when men give a loose rein to the depravity of nature, what wonder if the 
most scandalous practices ensue? Accordingly, a striking instance of this kind appeared 
in the license granted in 1539 to Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, to have two wives at once, 
which license was signed by Luther, Melanchthon, Bucer, and five other Protestant 
divines. 

On the other hand, a wide door was laid open to another species of scandal; the 
doctrine of the Reformation admitted divorces in the marriage state in certain cases, 
contrary to the doctrine of the Gospel, and even allowed the parties thus separated 
to marry other wives and other husbands. 

To enumerate the errors of all the Reformers would exceed the limits of this work. 

I shall therefore only add the principal heads of the doctrine of Calvin and the Calvinists : 

1, That baptism is not necessary for salvation; 2, good works are not necessary; 3, man H| 
as no free-will; 4, Adam could not avoid his fall; 5, a great part of mankind are created^ 
to be damned, independently of their demerits; 6, man is justified by faith alone, anch ; 
that justification once obtained, cannot be lost, even by the most atrocious crimes; 

7, the true faithful are also infallibly certain of their salvation; 8, the Eucharist is no 
more than a figure of the body and blood of Christ. Thus was the whole system of 
faith and morality overturned. Tradition they totally abolished, and, though they 
could not reject the whole of the Scripture as being universally acknowledged to be the y 
word of God, they had, however, the presumption to expunge some books of it that did v 
not coincide with their own opinions, and the rest they assumed a right to explain as 
they saw fit. 

To pious souls, they promised a return to the fervor of primitive Christianity; to 
the proud, the liberty of private judgment; to the enemies of the clergy, they promised 
the division of their spoils ; to priests and monks who were tired of the yoke of continence, 
the abolition of a law which they said was contrary to nature; to libertines of all classes, 
the suppression of fasting, abstinence, and confession. They said to kings who wished 
to place themselves at the head of the Church as well as the State, that they would be 
freed from the spiritual authority of the Church; to nobles, that they would see a rival 
order humbled and impoverished; to the middle classes and the vassals of the Church, 
that they would be emancipated from all dues and forced services. 

Several princes of Germany and of the Swiss cantons supported by arms the preachers 
of the new doctrines. Henry VIII imposed his doctrine on his subjects. The King 
of Sweden drew his people into apostasy. The Court of Navarre welcomed the Calvinists ; 
the Court of France secretly favored them. 

346 




At length Pope Paul III convoked a General Council at Trent, in 1545, to which 
the heresiarchs had appealed. Not only all the Catholic bishops, but also all Christian 
princes, even Protestants, were invited to come. 

But now the spirit of pride and obstinacy became most apparent. Henry VIII 
replied to the pope that he would never intrust the work of reforming religion in his 
kingdom to any one except to himself. The apostate princes of Germany told the 
papal legate that they recognized only the emperor as their sovereign; the Viceroy of 
Naples allowed but four bishops to go to the council; the King of France sent only 
three prelates, whom he soon after recalled. Charles V created difficulties and put 
obstacles in the way. Gustavus Vasa allowed no one to go to the council. The heresi- 
archs also refused to appear. The council, however, was held, in spite of these difficulties. 
It lasted over eighteen years, because it was often interrupted by the plague, by war, 
and by the deaths of those who had to preside over it. The doctrines of the innovators 
were examined and condemned by the council, at the last session of which there were 
more than three hundred bishops present, among whom were nine cardinals, three 
patriarchs, thirty-three archbishops, not to mention sixteen abbots or generals of religious 
orders, and one hundred and forty-eight theologians. All the decrees published from 
the commencement were read over, and were again approved and subscribed by the 
Fathers. Accordingly, Pius IV in a consistory held on the 26th of January, 1564, 
approved and confirmed the council in a book which was signed by all the cardinals. 
He drew up, the same year, a profession of faith conformable in all respects with the 
definitions of the council, in which it is declared that its authority is accepted; and 
since that time, not only all bishops of the Catholic Church, but all priests who are 
called to teach the way of salvation even to children, nay, all non-Catholics, on abjuring 
their errors and returning to the bosom of the Church, have sworn that they had no 
other faith than that of this holy council. 

The new heresiarchs, however, continued to obscure and disfigure the face of religion. 
As to Luther’s sentiments in regard to the pope, bishops, councils, etc., he says, in the 
preface to his book: “With how many powerful remedies and most evident Scriptures 
have I scarce been able to fortify my conscience so as to dare alone to contradict the pope, 
and to believe him to be Antichrist, the bishops his apostles, and the universities his 
brothel-houses’’; and in his book he says: “Christ takes from the bishops, doctors and 
councils, both the right and power of judging controversies, and gives them to all Chris- 
tians in general.” 

His censure on the Council of Constance, and those that compose it, is as follows: 
“All John Huss’ articles were condemned at Constance by Antichrist and his apostles” 
(meaning the pope and bishops), “in that synod of Satan, made up of most wicked 
sophisters; and you, most holy Vicar of Christ, I tell you plainly to your face, that 
John Huss’ condemned doctrines are evangelical and Christian, but all yours are impious 
and diabolical. I now declare,” says he, speaking to the bishops, “that for the future 
I will not vouchsafe you so much honor as to submit myself or doctrine to your judgment, 

347 



or to that of an angel from heaven.” Such was his spirit of pride that he made open 
profession of contempt for the authority of the Church, councils, and Fathers, saying: 
‘‘All those who will venture their lives, their estates, their honor, and their blood, in so 
Christian a work as to root out all bishoprics and bishops, who are the ministers of Satan, 
and to pluck by the roots all their authority and jurisdiction in the world — these persons 
are the true children of God, and obey his commandments.” 

This spirit of pride and of obstinancy is also most apparent from the fact that 
Protestantism has never been ashamed to make use of any arguments though ever so 
frivolous, inconsistent, or absurd, to defend its errors, and to slander and misrepresent 
the Catholic religion in every way possible. It shows itself again in the wars which 
Protestantism has waged to introduce and maintain itself. The apostate princes of 
Germany entered into a league, offensive and defensive, against the Emperor Charles V 
and rose up in arms to establish Protestantism. 

Luther had preached licentiousness, and reviled the emperor, the princes and the 
bishops. The peasants lost no time in freeing themselves from their masters. They 
overran the country in lawless bands, burnt down castles and monasteries, and com- 
mitted the most barbarous cruelties against the nobility and clergy. Germany became 
at last the scene of desolation and most cruel atrocities during the Thirty Years’ War 
(1618-1648). More than one hunderd thousand men fell in battle, seven cities were 
dismantled, one thousand religious houses were razed to the ground; three hundred 
churches, and immense treasures of statuary, paintings, books, etc., were destroyed. 

But what is more apparent and better known than the spirit of covetousness of 
Protestantism? Wherever Protestantism secured a footing, it pillaged churches, seized 
Church property, destroyed monasteries and appropriated to itself their revenues. 

In France, the Calvinists destroyed twenty thousand Catholic churches; they 
murdered, in Dauphiny alone, two hundred and fifty-five priests, one hundred and 
twelve monks, and burned nine hundred towns and villages. In England, Henry VIII 
confiscated to the crown, or distributed among his favorites, the property of six hundred 
and forty-five monasteries and ninety colleges, one hundred and ten hospitals, and 
two thousand three hundred and seventy-four free chapels and chantries. 

They even dared to profane with sacrilegious hands, the remains of the martyrs 
and confessors of God. In many places they forcibly took up the saints’ bodies from 
the repositories where they were kept, burned them, and scattered their ashes abroad. 
What more atrocious indignity can be conceived? Are parricides or the most flagitious 
men ever worse treated? Among other instances, in 1562, the Calvinists broke open 
the shrine of St. Francis of Paula, at Plessis-Lestours; and finding his body uncor- 
rupted fifty-five years after his death, they dragged it about the streets, and burned 
it in a fire which they had made with the wood of a large crucifix, as Billet and other 
historians relate. 

Thus at Lyons, in the same year, the Calvinists seized upon the shrine of St. Bona- 
venture, stripped it of its riches, burnt the saint’s relics in the market-place, and threw 

343 







his ashes into the river Saone, as is related by the learned Possevinus, who was in Lyons 
at the time. 

The bodies, also, of St. Irenaeus, St. Hilary, and St. Martin, as Surius asserts, were 
treated in the same ignominious manner. Such, also, was the treatment offered to 
the remains of St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose rich shrine, according to 
the words of Stowe, in his annals, “was taken to the king’s use, and the bones of St. 
Thomas, by the command of Lord Cromwell, were burnt to ashes in September, 1538. 

The Catholic religion has covered the world with its superb monuments. Protes- 
tantism has now lasted nearly four hundred years; it was powerful in England, in 
Germany, in America. What has it raised ? It will show us the ruins which it has made, 
amidst which it has planted some gardens, or established some factories. The Catholic 
religion is essentially a creative power, built up, not to destroy, because it is under the 
immediate influence of that Holy Spirit which the Church invokes as the creative Spirit, 
“Creator Spiritus.’’ The Protestant, or modern philosophical spirit, is a principle of 
destruction, of perpetual decomposition and disunion. Under the dominion of English 
Protestant power, for nearly eight hundred years, Ireland was rapidly becoming as naked 
and void of ancient memorials as the wilds of Africa. 

The Reformers themselves were so ashamed of the progress of immorality among 
their proselytes, that they could not help complaining against it. Thus spoke Luther: 
“Men are now more revengeful, covetous, and licentious, than they were ever in the 
Papacy.” Then again: “Heretofore, when we were seduced by the pope, every man 
willingly performed good works, but now no man says or knows anything else than how 
to get all to himself by exactions, pillage, theft, lying, usury.” 

Calvin wrote in the same strain : “ Of so many thousands,” said he, “who, renouncing 
Popery, seemed eagerly to embrace the Gospel, how few have amended their lives! Nay, 
what else did the greater part pretend to, than, by shaking off the yoke of superstition, 
to give themselves more liberty to follow all kinds of licentiousness?” Dr. Heylin, in 
his “History of the Reformation,” complains also of “the great increase of viciousness” 
in England, in the reforming reign of Edward VI. 

Erasmus says: “Take a view of this evangelical people, the Protestants. Perhaps 
’tis my misfortune, but I never yet met with one who does not appear changed for the 
worse.” And again: “Some persons,” says he, “whom I knew formerly innocent, 
harmless, and without deceit, no sooner have I seen them joined to that sect (the Pro- 
testants), than they began to talk of wenches, to play at dice, to leave off prayers, being 
grown extremely worldly, most impatient, revengeful, vain, like vipers, tearing one 
another. I speak by experience.” 

M. Scherer, the principal of a Protestant school in France, wrote, in 1844, that he 
beholds in his reformed church “the ruin of all truth, the weakness of infinite division, 
the scattering of flocks, ecclesiastical anarchy, Socinianism ashamed of itself, Rationalism 
coated like a pill, without doctrine, without consistency. This Church, deprived alike 
of its corporate and its dogmatic character, of its form and of its doctrine, deprived of 



349 





all that constituted it a Christian church, has in truth ceased to exist in the ranks of 
religious communities. Its name continues, but it represents only a corpse, a phantom, 
or, if you will, a memory or a hope. For want of dogmatic authority, unbelief has made 
its way into three-fourths of our pupils.” 

Such has been Protestantism from the beginning. It is written in blood and fire 
upon the pages of history. Whether it takes the form of Lutheranism in Germany, 
Denmark, and Sweden; Anglicanism in Great Britain, or Calvinism and Presbyterianism 
in Switzerland, France, Holland, Scotland, and America, — it has been everywhere the 
same. It has risen by tumult and violence; propagated itself by force and persecution; 
enriched itself by plunder, and has never ceased, by open force, persecuting laws or 
slander, its attempt to exterminate the Catholic faith and destroy the Church of Christ, 
which the fathers of Protestantism left from the spirit of lust, pride, and covetousness — 
a spirit which induced so many of their countrymen to follow their wicked example; a 
spirit, on account of which they would have been lost anyhow, even if they had not left 
their mother, the One Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church. Having seen the 
total absence of unity in Protestantism, total absence of holiness in its authors and 
their principles, total absence of catholicity , for want of truth, which alone can rule and 
enforce obedience everywhere throughout the world ; and total abstinence of apostolicity, 
because it arose only three hundred years ago — and no honest man will say that the 
apostles were Protestants — it is easier to answer the question : 

If, then, only the Roman Church is one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic, what 
follows? 

It follows that the Roman Catholic Church alone is the one true Church of Christ. 

There are men foolish enough to talk of Protestantism as if it were a name for some 
religious faith, system, or organization! They even speak of the Protestant religion, or 
the Protestant Church ! There is nothing of the kind. There is, and there can be, but 
one true religion. The word “religion,” says St. Augustine, is derived from the Latin 
word re-eligendo (to reelect), because, after having lost our Lord by sin, we ought to 
reelect, or choose Him again, as our true and only Lord and sovereign Master.” But, 
according to the same saint, the word “religion” is derived from religando (to reunite), 
because it reunites man with God, with whom he was primitively united, but from 
whom he voluntarily separated by sin. Hence, according to St. Thomas Aquinas, 
religion is a virtue which teaches us to live in union with God. Now, to live in union 
with God is to keep our will united to His; in other words it is to do the will of God. 
Religion therefore, is the knowing and doing of God’s will. He alone who knows and 
does the will of God has religion — is a truly religious man. Hence religion has always 
been one and the same: i, in its Author, who is God, who taught man his will, either in 
person or through those to whom He made His will known ; 2, in its doctrine. 

As God has always taught man the same truths concerning Himself, man, the world, 
morality, divine worship, grace, the object of religion, and the means to preserve and spread it, 

35 ° 




C-o 







y. 

it is clear that religion must always J^ve-treen^n 
the world. j ^ 

As to Himself, God has always taught, frorrf" the beginning of the world, that He 
alone is the only one God, infinitely perfect, the Creator and Redeemer of all things; 
that the Redeemer would save the world, and that we would be sanctified by 
His Spirit. These truths, however, are more fully known to Christians than they were 
to the Jews. 

Concerning man, God has always taught that He created him to His likeness, being 
composed of a body, and a soul which is spiritual, free, and immortal; that man fell 
through his own fault ; that all men are born in a state of sin and degradation ; that they 
"will all rise at the last day, and that there will be eternal rewards for the just, and eternal 
punishments for the wicked. 

With regard to the world, God has always taught that He created it out of nothing; 
that, by His infinite power and wisdom, He governed and preserved it; that He will 
purify it by fire and that there will be a new heaven and a new earth. 

As to morality, God has always taught the same laws, the same distinction between 
good and evil ; always commended the same virtues and condemned the same vices. 

As to His worship, God has always taught the same two essential acts of worship, 
viz. : prayer and sacrifice. 

As to grace, God has always taught that it was necessary for every man to be saved ; 
that He would give it, on account of the Redeemer, to all those who would use those 
means through which He wished to bestow it. 

As to the object of religion, God has always taught that it was to destroy sin and to 
lead men to true happiness. 

As to the means of preserving and spreading it, God has always used the same means, 
choosing certain men, and investing them with His own authority, to teach His religion 
authoritatively and with divine certainty. So that to hear and believe the infallible 
teachers chosen and sent by God, is to hear and to believe God Himself. Such infallible 
teachers were, as we have seen, the patriarchs and Moses and the prophets, before the 
coming of the Redeemer; and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and His teaching Church, — 
St. Peter and the other apostles, and their lawful successors, in the New Law. As 
religion has always been one and the same from the beginning of the world, because the 
same God has always taught one and the same religion, in like manner the teaching 
authority has always been the same, which is God’s own infallible authority, invested in 
those of whom He said: “He who heareth you heareth me.” There has, therefore, 
always been but one and the same religion, but one and the same Church. As man, by 
passing through the different stages of life does not cease to be the same man, so religion 
has never ceased to be the same, though- 4 t\has not^L-alHiTfi^s betm-Jaught as fully as it 
is at the present day; and the Chnstiai^^l^Qn, as taught by Christ in the Roman 
Catholic Church, is far more perJecfT^Mhr richer i^graces, than it was before the coming 
of the Redeemer. 


"V.l 




35i 



$ alone is established by Christ on earth as His ‘pillar and ground of truth,’ in one fold, 
; watched over by His one chief shepherd, ever immovable amid the storms of hell; with 
unshaken faith, amid the variations of philosophical systems, the infernal persecutions 
of the wicked, the revolutions of empires, the attacks of interest, of prejudice, of passion, 
the dissolving labors of criticism, the progress of physical, historical, and other sciences, 

> „ the unrestrained love of novelty, the abuses which sooner or later undermine the most 
*' firmly-established human institutions. The faith of this Churcl 

she alone teaches with divine authority.” 

This is clear to every unprejudiced and well-reflecting mind 

> relates the following, in one of his lectures : 

“A young English lady with whom I became subsequently acquainted and from 
whose lips I heard the tale, informed her parents that she felt constrained to embrace the 
Catholic faith. Hereupon arose much agitation in the parental councils and a reluctant 
promise was extorted from the daughter that she would not communicate with any 
Catholic priest till she had first listened to the convincing arguments with which certain 

These 


Mr. T. W. M. Marshall 


clerical friends of the family would easily dissipate her unreasonable doubts, 
ministers were three in number, and we will call them Messrs. A, B and C. The appointed 
day arrived for the solemn discussion, which one of the ministers was about to commence, 
when the young lady opened it abruptly with the following remark: I am too young and 
uninstructed to dispute with gentlemen of your age and experience, but perhaps you will 
allow me to ask you a few questions?’ Anticipating an easy triumph over the poor girl, 
the three ministers acceded with encouraging smiles to her request. ‘Then I will ask 
you,’ she said to Mr. A, ‘whether regeneration always accompanies^the sacrament oJ 
baptism?’ ‘UnaQubtedly,’ was the prompt reply; ‘that is the plain doctrine $ our 
Church.” ‘And yoh^ Mr. B,’ she continued ‘do you teach that doctrine?’ God forbid, 
my young friend,’ •tfras his indignant answer, ‘that I Should teach such soul-destroying 
error! Baptism is a formal rite, which, etc., etfe. ;*And you, Mr. C, she asked the third, 
‘what is your opinion?’ I regret,’ he replied with a bland voice, for he began to suspect 



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they were making a mess of it, ‘ that my reverend friends should have expressed them- 
selves a little incautiously. The true doctrine lies between these extremes’ — and he was 
going to develop it when the young lady, rising from her chair, said: ‘I thank you, 
gentlemen; you have taught me all that I expected to learn from you. You are all 
ministers of the same church, yet you each contradict the other, even upon a doctrine 
which St. Paul calls one of the foundations of Christianity. You have only confirmed me 
in my resolution to enter a Church whose ministers all teach the same thing.’ And then 
they went out of the room, one by one, and probably continued their battle in the street. 
But the parents of the young lady turned her out of doors the next day to get her bread 
as she could. 

“Another friend of mine, also a lady and one of the most intelligent of her sex, was 
for several years the disciple of the distinguished minister who has given a name to a 
certain religious school in England. Becoming disaffected toward the Episcopalian 
Church, which appeared to her more redolent of earth, in proportion as she aspired more 
ardently toward heaven, she was persuaded to assist at a certain Ritualistic festival, 
which it was hoped would have a soothing effect upon her mind. A new church was to 
be opened and the ceremonies were to be prolonged through an entire week. All the 
Ritualistic celebrities of the day were expected to be present. Her lodging was judi- 
ciously provided in a house in which were five of the most transcendental members of the 
High Church party. It was hoped that they would speedily convince her of their 
apostolic unity, but, unfortunately, they only succeeded in proving to her that no two 
of them were of the same mind. One recommended her privately to pray to the Blessed 
Virgin, which another condemned as, at best, a poetical superstition. One told her that 
the pope was, by divine appointment, the head of the Universal Church; another, that 
he was a usurper and a schismatic. One maintained that the 1 Reformers ’ were profane 
scoundrels and apostates; another, that they had at all events good intentions. But I 
need not trouble you with an account of their various creeds. Painfully affected by this 
diversity, where she had been taught to expect complete uniformity, her doubts were 
naturally confirmed. During the week she was invited to take a walk with the eminent 
person whom she had hitherto regarded as a trustworthy teacher. To him she revealed 
her growing disquietude and presumed to lament the conflict of opinions which she had 
lately witnessed, but only to be rewarded by a stern rebuke; for it is a singular fact that 
men who are prepared at any moment to judge all the saints and doctors, will not 
tolerate any judgment which reflects upon themselves. It was midwinter, and the lady’s 
companion pointing to the leafless trees by the roadside said with appropriate solemnity 
of voice and manner: ‘ They are stripped of their foliage now, but wait for the spring and 
you will see them once more wake to life. So shall it be with the Church of England 
which now seems to you dead.’ ‘It may be so,’ she replied; ‘but what sort of a spring 
can we expect after a winter which has lasted four hundred and ten years?' You will not 
be surprised to hear that this lady soon after became a member of a Church which 
knows nothing of winter, but within wh^sg^ceaceful borders reigns eternal spring.” 

(V7 

K\ 













an . eterhak Spring withnTtli^ffraceful borders of the Catholii 
ijt&ined*HTiJie Answer to the question : ^ 


Is THE FAITH OF THE ROM AN|^ ^TlItWJ| 

The faith of the Roman Catholic is diviwjfh 
Ji God Himself. 

The Roman Catholic Church is the heir to the rights of Jesus Christ. She is the 
faithful depositary of the spiritual treasures of Jesus Christ. She is the infallible teacher 
of the doctrines of Jesus Christ. She wields the authority of Jesus Christ. She lives by 
the life and spirit of Jesus Christ. She enjoys the guidance and help of Jesus Christ. 
She speaks, orders, commands, concedes, prohibits, defines, looses and binds, in the name 
of Jesus Christ. The Catholic believes in this divine authority of the Church and therefore 
, believes and obeys her; and in believing and obeying her, he believes and obeys Almighty 
' iGod Himself, who said to the apostles and their lawful successors in the Catholic Church : 
/“ He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me ” (Luke io : 16). 
j His faith, therefore, is divine, because it is based on divine authority; it gives peace to 
his soul, and contentment to his heart; it is for him, as it were, a perpetual spring of 
■ happiness and joy. 


iVINE OR HUMAN 


believe the Catholic Church is to believe 


Do Protestant sects teach divine faith on divine authority? < 

No; the faith of Protestants is based upon human authority, because their founders were 
not sent by God, nor did they receive any mission from His Church. 

The aim of Protestantism was to declare every man independent of the divine 
authority of the Catholic Church and to substitute for this divine authority that of the 
Bible, as interpreted by himself. Protestants, therefore, hold that man is himself his 
own teacher and his own lawgiver, that it is each one’s business to find out his own 
religion, that is to say, that every one must judge for himself what doctrines are most ' 
consistent with reason and the holy Scriptures; or that he must follow the teaching of 
the clergyman whose views best commend themselves to his judgment. He does not 
acknowledge that God has a right to teach him; or, if he acknowledges this right, he 
lloes not feel himself bound to believe all that God teaches him through those whom 
J&od appointed to teach mankind. He says to God: If thou teachest me, I reserve to 
Jnyself the right to examine thy words, to explain them as I choose and admit only what 
Appears to me true, consistent, and useful. Hence St. Augustine says: “You who « 
believe what you please, and reject what you please, believe yourselves or your own fancy ^ 
Yadher than the Gospel.’’ The faith of -the- Protestant then, is based upon his private y - 
Juijlgment alone, it is human. As his wdgmeffit is altefable^he naturally holds that his r ' 
faith and doctrine is alterable at will .ju^is t}ferufore)contihtjally'changing it. Evidently \ 
4 hen, he does not hold jt/to be tljp truthC^P^rijt'k riever .conges. Nor does he hold it to,. 
<be 7 the law of God/iyhich he J^bOund fq obeVfjor, if the law of God be alterable at allTmJ 








can only be altered by God Himself, never by man, any body of men, or any creature of 
God. 

But some Protestants, for instance, the Anglicans, think that they approach very 
near to the Catholic Church. They will tell you that their prayers and ceremonies are 
like many prayers and ceremonies of the Catholic Church, that their creed is the Apostles’ 
Creed. But, in principle, they are all equally far off. Thus they profess to believe 
in one Church, which has, unfortunately, become half a dozen; in unity, which ceased to 
exist long ago for want of a centre ; in authority, which nobody needs obey because it has 
lost the power to teach; in God’s presence with the Church, which does not keep her 
from stupid errors; in divine promises, which were only made to be broken; in a divine 
constitution, which needs to be periodically reformed; in a mission to teach all nations, 
while she is unable to teach even herself; in saints, to whom Anglicans would be objects 
of horror and aversion; and in the sanctity of truths which their own sect has always 
defiled, and which are profanely mocked at this hour by its bishops, clergy, and people,, 
all around them. The world has had occasion to admire in various ages, many curious 
products of human imbecility, but at no time, and among no people, has it seen anything 
which could be matched with this. Compared with Anglicanism and its myriad contra- 
dictions, the wildest phantom which ever mocked the credulity of distempered fanaticism 
was a form of truth and beauty, a model of exact reasoning and logical symmetry. 

Even an untutored Indian chief, by the aid of his rude common-sense and the mere 
intuition of natural truth, does not fail to see the folly of Protestant belief, and confounds 
and ridicules it before those Protestant missionaries who come to convert his tribe to 
Protestantism. Elder Alexander Campbell, in a lecture before the American Christian 
Missionary Association, relates the following: “Sectarian missionaries had gone among 
the Indians to disseminate religious sentiments. A council was called, and the mission- 
aries explained the object of their visit. ‘ Is not all the religion of a white man in a book? ’ 
quoth a chief. ‘Yes,’ replied the missionaries. ‘Do not all white men read the book?’ 
continued the chief. Another affirmative response. ‘ Do they all agree upon what it 
says?’ inquired the chief, categorically. There was a dead silence for some moments. 
At last one of the missionaries replied: ‘Not exactly; they differ upon some doctrinal 
points.’ ‘Go home, white man,’ said the chief, ‘call a council, and when the white men 
all agree, then come teach the red men! ’ ” 

The absurdity of Protestantism being so easily perceived by the rude child of the 
forest, Protestantism has never been able to convert a heathen nation, although it has 
every human means in its power. It has a vast number of ministers, plenty of ships to 
carry these ministers to every country, boundless wealth, and great armies and navies 
to terrify the heathen, also its merchants scattered through every quarter of the globe; 
with all this, Protestantism has not converted a nation, nor even a city or tribe, of 
heathens to Christianity after three hundred and eighty-four years. It has been ascer- 
tained that, during the last fifty years, Protestantism in Europe and America has collected 
and spent over one hundred and twenty-five millions of dollars for the purpose of 

355 








_Jr 

converting the heathens. One hundre^l mjjJL«*j^ /r of iBible^f Testaments, and tracts, 
have been printed in various languages, and iffattered throughout the world for the 
same purpose. Five thousand missiom^es{jymh large salarik^, varying from $500 to 
52,500 each, and also an additiagfftrallowance for their wives and families, are 
kept annually employed in the worffc^afnd yet all to no purpose. No result whateve 
can be shown. 

During every month of May, the various sects of Protestants hold their anniversary 
meetings in London and New York. At these gatherings speeches are made and reports 
read, in which the people are told of the wonderful conversions that are just going to take 
place; of a great door opened for the Gospel; of fields white for the harvest; of bright 
anticipations; of missionaries who now enjoy the confidence of the natives; of pagans 
stretching, or who are about to stretch forth their hands to God immediately; of printing- 
presses which are in constant operation; of schools to be opened; of sums spent in Bibles; 
of Bibles, Testaments, and tracts distributed. Every promise is made for the future but 
nothing whatever is shown for the past. The meetings are ended, votes of thanks are 
given to the various chairmen, prayers said, subscriptions received, and the huge delusion 
lives on from year to year. 

Some of the missionaries give up the work in despair, others in disgust. Some run 
away from the first appearance of danger; others fly from persecution, being terrified at 
the very idea of martyrdom. One missionary comes back to his native country, because 
of the sudden death of his wife; another, to bury his youngest daughter in her mother’s 
grave; another leaves the field of his missionary labors to console his dear mother on her 
death-bed ; another comes home to look after some small property left him by his father 
who recently died; one comes home to preserve the life of a delicate child who did not 
seem to thrive in the place where he was stationed ; another left to attend to the education 
of his children, whom he could not feel in his heart to rear up amongst pagans; another 
comes home, because his wife has quarreled with the wives of some of the other mission- 
aries; another, to be present at his eldest daughter’s marriage. Many Protestant 
missionaries give up the work of saving souls for more lucrative pursuits such as good 
commercial or government situations, or to become merchants on their own account; 
whilst a few, possessed of sufficient ability, have become newspaper correspondents; 
'and more than one, instead of converting the pagans, have themselves become converts 
to the Jewish and Mahometan religions, having got rich wives of these persuasions. 

Protestant travelers and writers who have visited the fields of Protestant missionary 
labor, have themselves furnished the world with these details? yjTThey tell of a few converts 
here and there, who relapse into paganism whenever the missionaries withdraw. They 
tell us that the missionaries become tyrants and perseam^^eqoeople when they get the 
chance; that they drive the natives into the 
make them more brutal, profligate, crafty 
they were before 

When will Protestants learn wi 


eeting-houses by force, and 
impure, and disgusting, than 




isd 


child of the forest: 


V 


When will 




o 


* 




VJ 





they see the absurdity of their teaching? It is strange how men will put their reason in 
their pocket and prefer darkness to light, error to truth, folly to wisdom. 

That man might know what to believe, Christ, who alone could tell him, founded 
the Roman Catholic Church, to be forever “the pillar and ground of truth.” Whoever 
declines to follow this guide must live without any sure guide. There is no other, because 
God has given no other. The creed of the apostate has only one article. If God, it 
proclaims, chose to found a church without consulting man, it is quite open to man to 
abolish the church without consulting God.” 

A body which has lost the principle of its animation becomes dust. Hence it is an 
axiom that the change or perversion of the principles by which anything was produced is 
the destruction of that very thing: if you can change or pervert the principles from 
which anything springs, you destroy it. For instance, one single foreign element intro- 
duced into the blood produces death ; one false assumption admitted into science destroys 
its certainty ; one false principle admitted into faith and morals is fatal. The Reformers 
started wrong. They would reform the Church, by placing her under human control. 
Their successors have, in each generation, found they did not go far enough, and have, 
each in turn, struggled to push it further and further, till they find themselves without 
any church life, without faith, without religion, and beginning to doubt if there be even 
a God. 

It is a well-known fact that before the Reformation infidels were scarcely known in 
the Christian world. Since that event they have come forth in swarms. It is from the 
writings of Herbert, Hobbes, Bloum, Shaftesbury, Bolingbroke, and Boyle, that Voltaire 
and his party drew the objections and errors which they have brought so generally into 
fashion in the world. According to Diderot and d’Alembert, the first step that the 
untractable Catholic takes is to adopt the Protestant principle of private judgment. He 
establishes himself judge of his religion— leaves and joins the reform. Dissatisfied with 
the incoherent doctrines he there discovers, he passes over to the Socinians, whose 
inconsequences soon drive him into Deism. Still pursued by unexpected difficulties, he 
finds refuge in universal doubt; but still haunted by uneasiness, he at length resolves to 
take the last step, and proceeds to terminate the long chain of his errors in infidelity. 
Let us not forget that the first link of this chain is attached to the fundamental maxim of 
private judgment. They judged of religion as they did of their breakfast and dinner. A 
religion was good or bad, true or false, just as it suited their tastes, their likings; their re- 
ligious devotion varied like the weather; they must feel it as they felt the heat and cold. 

New fashions of belief sprang up, and changed, and disappeared, as rapidly as the 
new fashions of dress. Men judged not only of every revealed doctrine, but they also 
judged of the Bible itself. Protestantism, having no authority, could not check this 
headlong tendency to unbelief. Its ministers dare no longer preach or teach any doctrine 
which is displeasing -to the people. Every Protestant preacher who wishes to be heard 
and to retain his salary, must first feel the pulse of his hearers; he must make himself 
the slave of their opinions and likings. 




357 




It is therefore, historically correct that the same principle that created Protestantism 1 
ages ago has never ceased to spin it out into a thousand different sects, and has concluded 
by covering Europe and America with that multitude of free-thinkers and infidels who 
place these countries on the verge of ruin. 

What is the spiritual life of Protestants? They seem to have lost all spiritual 
conceptions and no longer to possess any spiritual aspiration. Lacking, as they do, the 
light, the warmth, and the life-giving power of the sun of the Catholic Church, they seem 
to have become or to be near becoming what our world would be if there were no sun in 
the heavens. 

For this reason it is that Protestants are so completely absorbed in temporal 
interests, in the things that fall under their senses, that their whole life is only materialism 
put in action. Lucre is the sole object on which their eyes are constantly fixed. A 
burning thirst to realize some profit, great or small, absorbs all their faculties, the whole 
energy of their being. They never pursue anything with ardor but riches and enjoy- 
ments. God, the soul, a future life, — they believe in none of them or rather they never 
think about them at all. If they ever take up a moral or a religious book, or go to a 
meeting-house, it is only by way of amusement — to pass the time away. It is a less 
serious occupation than smoking a pipe, or drinking a cup of tea. If you speak to them 
about the foundations of faith, of the principles of Christianity, of the importance of 
salvation, the certainty of a life beyond the grave, — all these truths which so powerfully 
impress a mind susceptible of religious feeling, — they listen with a certain pleasure; for 
it amuses them, and piques their curiosity. In their opinion all this is “true, fine, 
grand.” They deplore the blindness of men who attach themselves to the perishable 
goods of this world ; perhaps they will even give utterance to some fine sentences on the 
happiness of knowing the true God, of serving Him, and of meriting by this means the 
reward of eternal life. They simply never think of religion at all, they like very well to 
talk about it, but it is as of a thing not made for them, — a thing with which personally 
they have nothing to do. This indifference they carry so far, — religious sensibility is so 
entirely withered or dead within them, — that they care not a straw whether a doctrine is 
true or false, good or bad. Religion is to them simply a fashion, which those may follow 
who have a taste for it. “ By and by, all in good time,” they say; “one should never be 
precipitate; it is not good to be too enthusiastic. No doubt the Catholic religion is 
beautiful and sublime; its doctrine explains with method and clearness, all that is 
necessary for man to know. Whoever has any sense will see that and will adopt it in his 
heart in all sincerity; but after all, one must not think too much of these things and 
increase the cares of life. Now, just consider we have a body, how many cares it demands. 
It must be clothed, fed, and sheltered from the injuries of the weather; its infirmities are 
great, and its maladies are numerous. It is agreed on all hands that health is our most 
precious good. This body that we see, that we touch, must be taken care of every day, 
and every moment of the day. Is not this enough, without troubling ourselves about a 
soul that we never see? The life of man is short and full of misery, it is made up of a 

358 






1I< 


pjort of importa nt concerns, that follow one another wit^6tft interruption Our 
J ■"'rm'inds ^kre scarcely sufficient for the solicitudes of the present life< fs.it 
se tiieit* to torment one’s self about the future? 
ranee ? 

?them, what would you think of a traveler who on finding himself at a dilap 
open to all the winds, and deficient in the necessaries of life, should spend 
in trying how he could make himself most comfortable in it, witho 
king of preparing himself for his departure and his return into the bosom 
family? Would this traveler be acting in a wise and reasonable manner? “No 
will reply; “one must not travel in that way. But man, nevertheless, must confine 
himself within proper limits. How can he provide for two lives at the same time? I 
take care of this life and the care of the other I leave to God. If a traveler ought not 
regularly to take up his abode at an inn, neither ought he to travel on two roads at the 
same time. When one wishes to cross a river, it will not do to have two boats and set a 
foot in each: such a proceeding would involve the risk of a tumble into the water, and 
frowning one’s self.” Such is the deep abyss of religious indifferentism into which so 
many Protestants of our day have fallen, and from which they naturally fall into one 
deeper still, infidelity 

Will such human faith save them? 

No; for St. Paul says: “ It is impossible to please God without faith" (Heb. 1 1 : 6). 

To be saved, we must do the will of God: “Not every one that saith to me Lord, 
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of my Father 
who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ” (Matt. 7 : 21). The will of 
God the Father is that men hear and believe his Son, Jesus Christ: “This is my well- 
beloved Son. Him you shall hear.” Now, Jesus Christ said to His apostles and their 
£ lawful successors : “ He that heareth you heareth me ; and he that despiseth you despiseth 
me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me,” — the heavenly Father. 
Now, Protestants despise God the Father, because they they do not listen to His Son 
speaking to them through Peter and the apostles, in their lawful successors. Turning, 
is they do, their back upon them most contemptuously, they follow their own will in all / 
religious matters. Assuredly no Protestant would engage and pay a servant who would « 
tell him, “I will serve you according to my will, not according to yours.” How, then, 
r ’could God the Father admit one into His kingdom who has always refused to do His 
will, — who, instead of learning the will of God, the full doctrine of Christ, through the 
Catholic Church, was himself his own teacher, his own lawgiver, his own judge in 
. religious matters? Every one who is not a Catholic should remember that there never 
was a time from the beginning of the world, when God left men free to fashion their own 
religion, to invent their own creed and thefeown form of worship. Christ never designed 

.li^ldj^subrnitted to the people by the apos- 
for cmlbrel^W(|H(:or private interpretation, 

1 1 




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that the sacred truths of IIiKjreli'gii<ii^sI:i 
ties and their successor® for discQsgj^i, 







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V 



with liberty to alter, amend or reject them, as ignorance, prejudice, or caprice might 
dictate. He never submitted His doctrines to the opinions or criticisms of the Scribes, 
Pharisees, or Sadducees of Jerusalem, or the learned pagan philosophers; He never 
sanctioned what is termed, in modern times, “freedom of conscience,” and “private 
interpretation;” on the contrary, from the beginning of the world, God established on 
earth a visible teaching authority, to which it was the bounden duty of every man to 
submit if he would be saved. If one, then, who is not a Catholic, seriously considers the 
question, “Is it God that speaks through the Catholic Church ? ” he fulfills a most sacred 
duty and acts according to reason. Far from offending God, he honors Him by using 
his reason to distinguish the voice of God from that of man — the supreme, divine 
authority from mere human authority. But as soon as he is convinced that the authority 
of the Church is from God, he is bound to believe most firmly all that he is told on this 
authority. Common-sense tells him that, when he hears God speak, he hears nothing 
but truth ; no matter whether or not he understands it, he is obliged to say, Amen, it is so. 
“ Without such faith,” says St. Paul, “it is impossible to please God.” 

Take the case of one who is not a Catholic but who has studied all the doctrines of 
the Church. He makes up his mind that all the Church teaches is reasonable and 
consistent with holy Scripture, and so he believes and becomes a Catholic. Is his faith 
divine? Does he become a Catholic in the right way? No; his faith is based, as yet, on 
individual reason alone. 

There is another. He considers the antiquity of the Roman Catholic Church; her 
unity in faith; the purity and holiness of her doctrine; her establishment by poor 
fishermen all over the world, in spite of all kinds of opposition; her invariable duration 
from the time of the apostles; the miracles which are wrought in her; the holi- 
ness of all those who live according to her laws ; the deep science of her doctors ; the 
almost infinite number of her martyrs; the peace of mind and happiness of soul 
experienced by those who have entered her bosom ; the fact that all Protestants admit 
that a faithful Catholic will be saved in his religion; the frightful punishment inflicted 
by God upon all the persecutors of the Catholic Church; the melancholy death of the 
authors of heresies; the constant fulfillment of the words of our Lord, that His Church 
would always be persecuted. He seriously considers all this; he is enlightened by God’s 
grace to see that the Roman Catholic Church alone is the true Church of Jesus Christ; he 
is convinced that her authority is from God and that to hear and obey her authority is to 
hear and obey God Himself: and so he accepts and believes all that she teaches because 
it comes to him on the authority of God, and therefore must be true; not because he 
himself sees how or why it is true. This is true divine faith — this is the right way to 
become a Catholic. Such faith is absolutely necessary. It is necessary by necessity of 
precept. Our blessed Lord says : “ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He 
that believeth not shall be condemned.” This precept is affirmative, in as far as it 
obliges us to believe all that God has revealed; it is negative, in as far as it forbids us to 
hold any opinions contrary to the revealed truth. 

360 




Such faith is necessary by the necessity of medium, for, “without faith, it is impos- 
sible to please God (Heb. n: 6). “If you believe not, you shall die in your sins” 
(John 5: 38; 8: 27) 

Who are not members of the Roman Catholic Church? 

All unbaptized persons, unbelievers , apostates, heretics, and all excommunicated persons. 

But how do we know that unbaptized persons are not saved ? We know it, because 
Jesus Christ has said: “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he 
cannot enter into the kingdom of God ” (John 3 : 5). 

Heaven is the union of Almighty God with the elect, — those who are quite pure, 
without the least stain of sin. But God, who is holiness itself, cannot unite Himself to 
a soul that is in sin. Now, as those who die without baptism remain forever stained with 
original sin, they can never be united to Almighty God in heaven. 

And why are unbelievers and apostates lost? Unbelievers and apostates are lost, 
because it is said that, “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” In our day and 
and country, it is become fashionable for a large number of men to have no religion and 
even to boast of having none. To have no religion is a great crime, but to boast of having 
none is the height of folly. 

The man without religion is a slave to the most degrading superstition. Instead of 
worshiping the true, free, living God, who governs all things by His providence, he bows 
before the horrid phantom of blind chance or inexorable destiny. He is a man who 
obstinately refuses to believe the most solidly established facts in favor of religion, and 
yet, with blind credulity, greedily swallows the most absurd falsehoods uttered against 
religion. He is a man whose reason has fled, and whose passions speak, object, 
and decide in the name of reason. He is sunk in the grossest ignorance regarding 
religion. He blasphemes what he does not understand. He rails at the doctrines of 
the Church without knowing really what her doctrines are. He sneers at the doctrines 
and practices of religion because he cannot refute them. He speaks with the utmost 
gravity of the fine arts, the fashions, and matters the most trivial, while he turns the 
most sacred subjects into ridicule. In the midst of his own circle of fops and silly 
women, he utters his shallow conceits with all the pompous assurance of a pedant. 

But why is it that he makes his impious doctrines the subject of conversation on 
every occasion? It is, of course, first to communicate his devilish principles to others 
and make them as bad as he himself is; but this is not the only reason. The good 
Catholic seldom speaks of his religion; he feels assured, by the grace of God, that his 
religion is the only true one, and that he will be saved if he lives up to it. Such is not 
the case with the infidel; he is constantly tormented in his soul: “There is no peace, no 
happiness for the impious,” says the holy Scripture. He tries to quiet the fears of his 
soul, the remorse of his conscience; so he communicates to others on every occasion, his 
perverse principles, hoping to meet with some of his fellow-men who may approve of his 
impious views that he thus may find some relief for his interior torments. He resembles 

361 





a timid man who is obliged to travel during a dark night, and -who begins to sing and cry 
out in order to keep away fear. The infidel is a sort of night-traveler, he travels in the 
horrible darkness of his impiety. His interior conviction tells him that there is a God 
who will certainly punish him in the most awful manner. This fills him with great fear, 
and makes him extremely unhappy every moment of his life ; he cannot bear the sight of 
a Catholic Church, of a Catholic procession, of an image of our Lord, of a picture of a 
saint, of a prayer-book, of a good Catholic, of a priest; in a word, he cannot bear anything 
that reminds him of God, of religion, of his own guilt and impiety: so, on every occasion, 
he cries out against faith in God, in all that God has revealed and proposes to us for our 
belief by the holy Catholic Church. What is the object of his impious cries ? It is to 
deafen, to keep down in some measure, the clamors of his conscience. Our hand will 
involuntarily touch that part of the body where we feel pain ; in like manner the tongue 
of the infidel touches on all occasions, involuntarily as it were, upon all those truths o: 
our holy religion which inspire him with fear of the judgments of Almighty God. He 
feels but too keenly that he cannot do away with God and His sacred religion, by denying 
His existence. 

The days of the infidel are counted. What a fearful thing it is for him to fall into 
he hands of God in the hour of death! He knows this truth, and because he knows 
he dies in the fury of despair, and, as it were, in the anticipated torments of the sufferin 
at awaits him in hell. Witness Voltaire, the famous infidel of France! He wished t 
make his confession at his last hour. But the priest of St. Sulpice was not able to go to 
his bedside, because the chamber-door was shut upon him. So Voltaire died without a 
confession. He died in such a terrible paroxysm of fury and rage that the Marshal of. 
Richelieu, who was present at his horrible agony, exclaimed: “Really, this sight is 
sickening; it is insupportable!” M. Tronchin, Voltaire’s physician, says: “Figure to 
yourself the rage and fury of Orestes and you’ll still have but a feeble image of the fury 
of Voltaire in his last agony. It would be well if all the infidels of Paris were present. 
Oh! the fine spectacle that would have met their eyes!” Thus is fulfilled in infidels 
what God says in holy Scripture: “ I will laugh at the destruction of those who laughed 
at me during their life.” 

Witness Tom Paine! A short time before he died he sent for the Rev. Father 
Fenwick. Father Fenwick went in company with Father Kohlman, to see the infidel in 
his wretched condition. When they arrived at Paine’s house, at Greenwich, his 
housekeeper came to the door and inquired whether they were the Catholic priests: “For,” 
said she, “ Mr. Paine has been so annoyed of late by ministers of different other denomi- 
nations calling upon him that he has left express orders with me to admit no one to-day 
but clergymen of the Catholic Church.” Upon assuring her that they were Catholic 
clergymen she opened the door, and invited them to sit down in the parlor. “Gentle- 
men,” said she, “ I really wish you may succeed with Mr. Paine, for he is laboring under 
great distress of mind ever since he was informed by his physicians that he cannot 
possibly live, and must die shortly. He sent for you to-day, because he was told that if 

362 


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any one could do him good, you might. He is truly to be pitied. His cries when he is 
left alone are truly heart rending. ‘ O Lord ! help me ! ’ he will exclaim during his 
paroxysms of distress. ‘God help, Jesus Christ, help me!’ repeating the same expressions 
without the least variation, in a tone of voice that would alarm the house. Sometimes 
he will say, ‘O God! what have I done to suffer so much?’ Then shortly after: ‘If 
there is a God, what will become of me?’ Thus he will continue for some time, when on 
a sudden he will scream as if in terror and agony, and call out for me by name. On one 
of these occasions, which are very frequent, I went to him and inquired what he wanted. 
‘Stay with me,’ he replied, ‘for God’s sake; for I cannot bear to be left alone.’ I then 
observed that I could not always be with him, as I had much to attend to in the house. 
‘ Then,’ said he, ‘send even a child to stay with me; for it is a hell to be alone.’ I never 
saw,” she concluded, “a more unhappy, a more forsaken man. It seems he cannot 
reconcile himself to die.” 

The fathers did all in their power to make Paine enter into himself and ask God’s 
pardon. But all their endeavors were in vain. He ordered them out of his room, in 
the highest pitch of its voice, and seemed a very maniac with rage and madness. “ Let 
us go,” said Father Fenwick to Father Kohlman. “We have nothing more to do here. 
He seems to be entirely abandoned by God. Further words are lost upon him. I never 
before or since beheld a more hardened wretch” (“Lives of the Catholic Bishops of 
America,” p. 379, etc.). 

To the infidel and evil-doer these examples present matter worthy of serious reflec- 
tion, while the believer will recognize in them the special judgment of God which is too 
clearly indicated to be doubted by any honest mind. Let the unbeliever remember that 
the hour will come when he shall open his eyes to see the wisdom of those who have be- 
lieved; when he also shall see, to his confusion, his own madness in refusing to believe. 
“Oh! that he would be wise, and would understand that there is none that can deliver 
out of the hand of the Lord ! ” 

Why are those persons lost who have been justly excommunicated, and 

WHO ARE UNWILLING TO DO WHAT IS REQUIRED OF THEM BEFORE THEY ARE ABSOLVED? 

Because the sin of great scandal , for which they, as dead members, were expelled from the 
communion of the Church, excludes them from the kingdom of heaven. 

Such excommunicated persons are, for instance, all members of secret societies. 
The aim of secret societies is to abolish the Christian religion and the Church of Christ; 
nay, to banish the law of God, and the very idea of His overruling providence; to over- 
turn every legitimate secular authority; to destroy the present basis of society, and to 
construct a new one, wherein all may be free to follow their passions. The members of 
these societies have been excommunicated by several Popes: by Clement IX, Benedict 
XIV, Leo XII, and Pius IX. 

Our Lord gave to His Church the power to represent Him and to direct and govern 
mankind in matters of faith and morals. The purpose and effect of excommunication 



are to cut culprits off from the body of Christ ; to cast them out of His Church as unworthy 
of the Christian name, and as deprived of rights which were acquired by baptism. The 
excommunicated then are shut out from those avenues of grace which have been provided 
in the Church; they cannot receive the sacraments; the holy sacrifice of the Mass is not 
daily offered for them; and if death surprises them while they still obstinately defy the 
Church, the separation from the Church which they have willfully chosen to maintain on 
earth, will be maintained also in the other world — they will remain separated forever 
from the communion of the saints in heaven.” 

Why are heretics lost? Heretics, that is to say, baptized persons who choose such 
doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church as please them and reject the rest, are lost for 
the reason given by St. Paul the Apostle, wdio says: ‘‘A man that is a heretic after the 
first and second admonition, avoid; knowing that he who is such an one is subverted and 
sinneth, being condemned by his own judgment .” 

The word of God in the first commandment, is: ‘‘I am the' Lord thy God.” By this 
commandment all men are obliged to believe in God as the Infinite Being, who is essen- 
tially good and just, the sovereign Author and Lord of all things, who has an absolute 
authority over all, — an authority which He can exercise either directly by himself, or 
through an angel, a prophet, or one or more of His reasonable creatures. God, therefore, 
has a right to command the human understanding to admit certain truths, the human 
will to perform certain duties, the senses to make certain sacrifices. Nothing can be 
more reasonable than to submit to such a command of God. This submission is called 
faith, which, as St. Paul says, ‘‘bringeth into captivity every understanding to the 
obedience of Christ” (II Cor. io: 5). As soon, then, as man hears the voice of his Maker, 
he is bound to say, ‘‘Amen: it is so.” I believe it no matter whether I understand it 
or not. 

But Protestants have no regard for God when He says, “ I am the Lord thy God. I 
have a right to tell you what you must believe and do, in order to be saved, and you 
are bound to submit to my will, and practice the religion which I have established.” 
The Protestant answers: “Of course, I believe that thou art the Lord of heaven and 
earth but I believe only what I choose to believe;” thus defying the Almighty to prescribe 
a religion for him. Protestants, therefore, live constantly in violation of the first com- 
mandment. 

They also transgress the second commandment of God, which says: “Thou shalt 
not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” By this commandment God forbids 
all men to blaspheme Him or any of His saints, or to ridicule religion. Yet what is 
more common among Protestants than to blaspheme Jesus Christ in His Mother and 
other saints; what more common than to ridicule the religion of Christ and its holy 
practices? Are not Protestant books, sermons, tracts, and conversations, filled with 
abusive language, invectives, mockeries against Christ, His religion and His saints? 

Protestants also transgress the third commandment of God, which says: “ Remember 
thou keep holy the Sabbath day.” By this commandment God commands all men to 

364 


•M>) tp 9 






worship Him in the manner which He has prescribed. From the beginning of the world 
God wished to be worshiped by the offering of sacrifices ; but Protestants have done away 
with the worship of the sacrifice of the Mass which Christ commanded to be offered up by 
His priests and all Christians. They refuse to give God the honor of adoration; that is, 
to honor Him as the sovereign Lord of all creatures, and to acknowledge their entire 
dependence on Him by offering the sacrifice of the body and blood of His divine Son, 
Jesus Christ, in holy Mass. Instead of thus honoring and worshiping Him, they blas- 
pheme Christ by calling this holy sacrifice a superstitious ceremony or abominable 
idolatry, whilst their own worship is a false worship which is an abomination in the 
sight of God. 

Protestants transgress the fourth commandment, by refusing obedience to the 
lawful ecclesiastical superiors. They transgress the fifth commandment, by refusing to 
make use of the means of grace, — the sacraments, — to obtain God’s grace, and preserve 
themselves in His holy friendship. They transgress the sixth and ninth commandments, 
which forbid adultery, and even the desire to commit it. Jesus Christ says: “I say to 
you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, and shall marry another, committeth 
adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery” (Matt. 19: 
9). “No,” says Protestantism to a married man, “you may put away your wife, get a 

divorce, and marry another.” 

God says to every man: “Thou shalt not steal.” “No,” said Luther to secular 
princes, “I give you the right to appropriate to yourselves the property of the Roman 
Catholic Church.” And the princes from that day to this, have been only too happy to 
profit by this pleasing advice. 

Jesus Christ says: “Hear the Church.” “No,” says Protestantism, “do not hear 
the Church; protest against her with all your might.” Jesus Christ says: “If any one 
will not hear the Church, look upon him as a heathen and publican.” “No,” says 
Protestantism, “if any one does not hear the Church, look upon him as an apostle, as an 
ambassador of God.” Jesus Christ says: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against my 
Church.” “No,” says Protestantism, “ ’tis false; the gates of hell have prevailed 
against the Church for a thousand years and more.” Jesus Christ has declared to St. 
Peter, and every successor to St. Peter, — the pope, — to be His Vicar on earth. “No,” 
says Protestantism, “the pope is Antichrist.” Jesus Christ says: “My yoke is sweet, 
and my burden is light ” (Matt. 1 1 : 30). “ No,” said Luther and Calvin, “ it is impossible 

to keep the commandments.” Jesus Christ says: “ If thou wilt enter into life, keep the 
commandments” (Matt. 19: 17). “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “faith alone, without 

good works, is sufficient to enter into life everlasting.” Jesus Christ says: “Unless you 
do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 3: 3). “No,” says Protestantism, 

“fasting and other works of penance are not necessary in satisfaction for sin.” Jesus 
Christ says: “This is my body.” “No,” said Calvin, “this is only the figure of Christ’s 
body ; it will become his body as soon as you receive it. ” 

The Holy Ghost says in holy Scripture: “Man knoweth not whether he be worthy 

365 





4 







of love or hatred.” “Who can say, My heart is clean, I am pure from sin?” and, “Work 
out your salvation with fear and trembling.” “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “but 
whosoever believes in Jesus Christ is in the state of grace.” 

St. Paul says: “If I should have faith so that I could remove mountains and have 
not charity, I am nothing.” “No,” said Luther and Calvin, “faith alone is sufficient to 
save us.” St. Peter says that in the Epistles of St. Paul there are many things “hard 
to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as also the other Scriptures, 
to their own perdition.” “No,” says Protestantism, “the Scriptures are very plain and 
easy to be understood.” 

St. James says: “ Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the 
Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of the Lord” 
(Chap. 5 : 14). “ No,” says Protestantism, “ this is a vain and useless ceremony.” 

Protestants being thus impious enough to make liars of Jesus Christ, of the Holy 
Ghost, and of the apostles, need we wonder if they continually slander Catholics, telling 
and believing worse absurdities about them than the heathens did? What is more 
absurd than to preach that Catholics worship stocks and stones for gods; set up pictures 
of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints, to pray to them, and put 
their confidence in them; that they adore a god of bread and wine; that their sins are 
forgiven by the priest, without repentance and amendment of life; that the pope or any 
other person can give leave to commit sin, or that for a sum of money the forgiveness of 
sins can be obtained? To these and similar absurdities and slanders, we simply answer: 
“Cursed is he who believes in such absurdities and falsehoods, with which Protestants 
impiously charge the children of the Catholic Church. All these grievous transgressions 
are another source of their reprobation.” 

But there are other reasons still why Protestants cannot be saved. J esus Christ says : 
“ Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life 
in you” (John 6: 54). Now, Protestants do not receive the body and blood of our Lord, 
because their ministers are not priests, and consequently have no power from Jesus Christ 
to say Mass, in which, by the words of consecration, bread and wine are changed into the 
body and blood of Christ. It follows, then, that they will not enter into life everlasting 
and deservedly so, because they abolished the holy sacrifice of the Mass; and by abolish- 
ing that great sacrifice they robbed God the Father of the infinite honor which Jesus 
Christ renders Him therein, and themselves of all the blessings which Jesus Christ bestows 
upon those who assist at this hcly sacrifice with faith and devotion: “ Wherefore the sin 
of the young men (the sons of Heli )was exceeding great before the Lord, because they 
withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord” (I Kings 2: 17). Now, God the Father 
cannot admit into heaven these robbers of His infinite honor; because, if those are 
damned who steal the temporal goods of their neighbor, how much more will those be 
damned who deprive God of His infinite honor, and their fellow-men of the infinite 
spiritual blessings of the Mass! 

Again, no man is saved who dies in the state of mortal sin, because God cannot unite 

366 








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. . f. %4. ^ '1 A 

imself to a soul in hfeave^n w^-o^morj.&t= 0 n, ,is' S^/^emy. But Protestants ari 
enemies of God, committing, as^^n^otfier mortal jtipg , besides those already mentioned; 
for, if it is a mortal sin for a RomalTCatholic -willfully’’ to doubt only one article of his faith, 
it is also most assuredly, a mortal sin for Protestants wilfully to deny not only one truth 
but almost all the truths revealed by Jesus Christ. On account of the sins of apostasy, 
blasphemy, slander, etc., they remain enemies of God, as long as they do not repent and 
receive absolution of these sins. Jesus Christ assures us that those sins which are not 
forgiven by the absolution of His apostles or their successors, will not be forgiven: 
“Whose sins you retain, they are retained.” But Protestants are unwilling to confess 
their sins to a Catholic bishop or a priest who alone has power from Christ to forgive sins : 
“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them.” They generally have an utter 
aversion to confession, they die in their sins and are lost; for sins, unrepented and 
unatoned for, stand through all eternity. 

Again, no grown person can enter the kingdom of heaven without good works. On 
the great day of judgment Jesus Christ will say to the wicked: “Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was 
thirsty, and you gave me not to drink,” etc. It is true that many regular, naturally 
good Protestants practice good works, make long prayers, fast, give alms, and perform 
other works of natural virtue, all of which are, indeed, laudable actions. But all these 1 
works are destitute of one essential thing, viz., docility to faith, without which there is 
neither merit nor recompense. For merely natural virtues there are natural rewards. 
But works, to be meritorious of heaven, must be performed in the state of grace; they 
must proceed from, and be vivified by divine faith, to deserve an eternal reward; for 
then it is that they proceed, as it were from God Himself, and from His divine Spirit 
who lives in us and urges us on to the performance of good works. 

Hence, as faith without works is dead, so also works without faith are dead and 
cannot save the doer from destruction. Splendid, but barren works! apparently 
delicious fruit, but rotten within! In vain, then, shall they glory in these works. The 
Gospel will always tell them that he “who does not believe, is already judged.” The 
apostle will ever declare to them that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” 
Jesus Christ Himself will ever command us to look upon “ him as the heathen and publican 
who will not hear the Church,” though otherwise he should be as severe in his life as an 
anchoret, as enlightened in his understanding as an angel. “In the Catholic Church,” 
says St. Augustine, “there are both good and bad. But they who are separated from 
her, as long as they remain in their opinion against her, cannot be good ; for, although a 
kind of laudable conversation seems to show forth some of them as good, the separation 
itself makes them bad, the Lord saying: ‘He who is not with me is against me; and he 
who gathered not with me, scattereth’ ” (Ep. 208 n. 6, c ol. 1.1177b What, then, will be 
the astonishment, sorrow' and despair of^ms^vh^Tvoid'oT' faith, \nd separated from 
the Church, will one day present theTfis^^KBerore God, and, imagining to have heaped 


up treasures of merits, wilt g^ 


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367 


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In the history of the foundation of the Society of Jesus, in the Kingdom of Naples, is 
related the following story of a noble youth of Scotland, named William Ephinstone: 

He was, ablative of the Scottish king. Born a heretic, he followed the false sect to whichji^ 
he belonged; but enlightened by, divine grace, which him his errors, he went tc^^ 

France, where, with the assistance of a good Jesuit FatlreV, who was also a Scotchman, 
he at length saw the truth, abjured heresy, and became a Catholic. He went afterwards 
to Ivomb, joined the Society of Jesus, in which he died a happy death. When at .Rome, a 
friend of his found him one day very much afflicted, and weeping. He asked hipi^je 
cause, and the young man answered that in the night his mother had appeared 
and said: “My son, it is well for thee that thou hast entered the true Churchy! 
already lost, becausefd died in heresy.” 

We read, in the Life of St. Rose of Viterbo, that she was inflamed with gr&^t JtfSau for ^ 
the salvation of souls. She felt a most tender compassion for those who were living 
heresy. In order to convince a certain lady who was a heretic, that she could not be 
"graved in her sect and that it was necessary for salvation to die a true member of the 
Catholic Church, she made a large fire, threw herself into it and remained in it for three 
hours without being hurt. This lady, together with many others on witnessing the 
miracle, abjured their heresy, and became Catholics. 

When the Emperor Valens ordered that St. Basil the Great should go into banish- 
ment, God, in the high court of heaven, passed, at the same time, sentence against the 
emperor’s only son, named Valentinian Galatus, a child then about six years old. That 
very night the royal infant was seized with a violent fever, from which the physicians 
were unable to give him the least relief; and the Empress Dominica told the emperor \ 
that this calamity was a just punishment of heaven for his banishing the bishop, on 
which account she had been disquieted by terrible dreams. Thereupon Valens sent for 
the saint, who was about to go into exile. No sooner had the holy bishop entered the 
palace than the fever of the child began to abate. St. Basil assured the parents of the 
absolute recovery of their son on condition that they would order him to be instructed in 
the Catholic faith. The emperor accepted the conditions, St. Basil prayed, and the young 
prince was cured. But Valens, unfaithful to his promise, afterward allowed an Arian 
bishop to baptize the child. The young prince immediately relapsed and died (Butler’s { 
“ Lives of the Saint,” June 14). By this miraculous cure of the child, God made manifest 


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truest friends; but why do they take us for enemies? “The Christian,” as Tertullian 
said, “is the enemy of no one,” not even of his persecutors. He hates heresy because 
God hates it, but he has only compassion for those who are caught in its snare. Whether 
he exhorts or reproves them, he displays not malice, but charity. He knows that they 
are, of all men, the most helpless; and when his voice of warning is most vehement, he 
is only doing what the Church has done from the beginning. His voice is but the echo 
of hers. We are told that, before the Council of Nice, she had already condemned thirty- 
eight different heresies; and in every case she pronounced anathema upon those who 
held them. And she was as truly the mouthpiece of God in her judicial as in her teaching 
office. 

The Church is, indeed, uncompromising in matters of truth. Truth is the honor of 
the Church. The Church is the most honorable of all societies. She is the highest 
standard of honor, because she judges all things in the light of God, who is the source of 
all honor. A man who has no love for the truth, a man who tells a willful lie or takes a 
false oath is considered dishonored. No one cares for him, and it would be unreasonable 
to accuse one of intolerance or bigotry because he refuses to associate with a man who has 
no love for the truth. It would be just as unreasonable to accuse the Catholic Church of 
intolerance, bigotry, or want of charity, because she excludes from her society and 
pronounces anathema upon those who have no regard for the truth and remain wilfully 
out of her communion. 

If the Church believed that men could be saved in any religion whatever or without 
any at all, it would be uncharitable in her to announce to the world that out of her there 
is no salvation. But, as she knows and maintains that there is but one faith as there is 
but one God and Lord of all, and that she is in possession of that one faith, and that 
without that faith it is impossible to please God and be saved, it would be very unchari- 
table in her, and in all her children, to hide Christ’s doctrine from the world. To warn 
our neighbor when he is in imminent danger of falling into a deep abyss is considered an 
act of great charity. It is a greater act of charity to warn non-Catholics of the certain 
danger in which they are of falling into the abyss of hell, since Jesus Christ and His 
apostles themselves and all their successors, have always most emphatically asserted 
that out of the Church there is no salvation. 

Here it may be asked : Are all those who are out of the Church equally guilty in the 
sight of God? We answer: No; some are more guilty than others. It cannot be 
considered the personal fault, however great and terrible the misfortune of any individual 
of the children of Adam, that our first parents sinned. So it is not the fault of those who 
were born and educated in any of the errors or negations of Protestantism, in its hundred 
various forms. Involuntary error is a misfortune to be pitied, a calamity to be deplored. 
Only when entered into or persisted in against light and knowledge, can it be considered 
a sin, or other than a sin of ignorance. There are persons who sometimes commit actions 
which in themselves are very wrong, but are not punishable in the sight of God, because 
they do not proceed from willful malice, as those who commit them are not aware in the 


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may be persons 

effrgjndrhedeast aware of it. Now such inculpable ignora 
ill of cj^irse not sa^e them; but KbJjreyHpar God, and live up to their conscience, God in 
His infinite mercy will furnish thep^itnHl^^gyessary means of salvation, even so as tp 
send if needed, an angel to instrucfiThem Catholic faith rather than let them peris# 

through inculpable ignorance. * \>/ 

But there are others who are guilty in the sight of God. They are those who know 
the Catholic Church to be the only true Church but do not embrace her faith, as also 
those who could know her if they would candidly search, but who through indifference 
and other culpable motives neglect to do so. 

Would it be right to say that one who was not received into the Church 

BEFORE HIS DEATH IS DAMNED? 

No; because, in his last hour . such a one may receive the grace to die united to the Catholic 
Church. 

It is not our business to say whether this or that one who was not received into the 
Church before his death is damned. What we condemn is the Protestant and the heathen 
system of religion because they are utterly false; but we do not condemn any person — 
God alone is the judge of all. It is quite certain, however, that if any of those who are 
not received into the Church before their death enter heaven, — a lot which we earnestly 
desire and beg God to grant them, — they can only do so after undergoing a radical and 
fundamental change before death launches them into eternity. This is quite certain, 
for the reason, among others, that they are not one; and nothing is more indisputably 
certain than this, that there can be no division in heaven: “ God is not the God of dissen- 
sion,” says St. Paul, ‘‘but of peace.” He has never suffered the least interruption of 
union, even in the Church Militant on earth; most assuredly He will not tolerate it in 
the Church Triumphant. God most certainly will remain what He is. Non-Catholics 
therefore, in order to enter heaven, must cease to be what they are and become something 
which now they are not. 

God, in His infinite mercy, may enlighten at the hour of death, one who is not yet a 
Catholic, so that he may know and believe the necessary truths of salvation, be truly 
sorry for his sins, and die in such disposition of soul as is necessary to be saved. Such a 
ne, by an extraordinary grace of God, ceases to be what he was; he dies united, at least, 
o the soul of the Church, as theologians call it. 

With regard to Catholics, the case is quite different. No change need come upon 
them, except that which is implied in passing from the state of grace to the state of glory. 
They will be one there as they have_been one here. For them the miracle of super 
tural unity is already worked. Th^i mark ,of God 1 ® hand is already upon them. That 
sign of God’s election is-already g-rav^^ipon their foreheads. .Faith will be replaced b 
sight, but this will be no rbSbch^iS^Ijeg^tis^A^at thegss^e in the next world will be 



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of Father Faber), whom here they have worshiped upon the altar, will there be their 
everlasting portion. The same gracious Madonna who has so often consoled them in the 
trials of this life will introduce her own children to the glories of the next. They will not 
in that hour have to “buy oil” for their lamps, for they are already kindled at the lamp 
of the sanctuary. No wedding-robe will have to be provided for them, for they 
received it long ago at the baptismal font and have washed away its stains in the tribunal 
of penance. The faces of the saints and angels will not be strange to them, for have 
they not been familiar with them from infancy as friends, companions, and benefactors? 
And being thus, even in this world, of the household of faith and the family of God, not 
only no shadow of change need pass upon them, but to vary in one iota from what they 
now believe and practice, would simply cut them off from the communion of saints and 
be the most overwhelming disaster which could befall them. 

We have seen that there is no salvation possible out of the Roman Catholic Church. 
It is therefore very impious for one to think and to say that “every religion is good.” To 
say every religion is good is as much as to say: The devil is as good as God. Hell is as 
good as heaven. Falsehood is as good as truth. Sin is as good as virtue. It is impious 
to say, “I respect every religion.” This is as much to say: I respect the devil as much 
as God, vice as much as virtue, falsehood as much as truth, dishonesty as much as honesty, 
hell as much as heaven. It is impious to say, “ It matters very little what a man believes 
provided he be an honest man. Let such a one be asked whether or not he believes that 
his honesty and justice are as great as the honesty and justice of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
These were constant in prayer, they paid tithes according to the law, gave great alms, 
fasted twice in every week, and compassed sea and land to make a convert, and bring 
him to the knowledge of the true God. Now, what did Jesus Christ say of this justice 
of the Pharisees? “ Unless,” He says, “your justice shall exceed that of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven ” (Matt. 5 : 20). The righteous- 
ness of the Pharisees, then, must have been very defective in the sight of God. It was, 
indeed, nothing but outward show and ostentation. They did good only to be praised 
and admired by men; but within their souls were full of impurity and malice. They 
were lewd hypocrites who concealed great vices under the beautiful appearance of love for 
God, charity to the poor, and severity to themselves. Their devotion consisted in 
exterior acts, and they despised all who did not live as they did ; they were strict in the 
religious observances of human traditions but scrupled not to violate the commandments 
of God. No wonder then, that this Pharisaic honesty and justice were condemned by 
our Lord. To those, therefore, who say, “ It matters little what a man believes, provided 
he be honest,” we answer: “Your outward honesty, like that of the Pharisees, may be 
sufficient to keep you out of prison, but not out of hell. It should be remembered that 
there is a dishonesty to God, to one’s own soul and conscience, as well as to one’s neigh- 
bor.” 

You say, it is enough to be an honest man. What do you mean by an honest man? 
The term, honest man, is rather a little too general. Go, for instance, to that young man 

37i 



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whose shameful secret sins are written on his hollo 
ask him if one can be an honest man who gratina^PThis^ritt^f, s 
will be his answer? “Why,” he will SctyT s t^pi«|e nattmtfiolli 
hinder a man from being honest. To teUg^ie^nuk, for instanc 
that way myself, and yet I would likaal^pe the man that would doubt my honesty.” 

Go to the covetous shopkeeper ^^^ells his goods as if they were of the finest quality 
go to that tradesman, that mason, that bricklayer, or carpenter, who does not work even 
half as diligently when he is paid by the day as when he is paid by the job; go to these 
men that have grown rich by fraudulent speculation, by cheating the public or govern- 
ment; go to the employers that cheat the servant and the poor laborer; ask them if 
what they do prevents them from being honest people, and they will answer y r ou coldly 
that they are merely tricks of trade, shrewdness in business; that they do not by any 
means hinder one from being an honest man. 

True faith requires obedience, humility and childlike simplicity; it excludes pride, 
self-will, clinging to our own ideas, and that unwillingness to obey which hurled the 
angels from heaven, and cast our first .parents out of paradise. Faith is a duty which 
God requires of us, and unless we fulfill this duty sincerely', we can never enter the kingdom 
of heaven. One may say: “ To submit to the yoke of faith is to submit to a spiritual and 
moral tyranny ; it is to lose one’s liberty.” There is liberty and there is license. To be . ... 

the slave of vile passions and seek to satisfy them always and at any cost, is not true Qc \?J 
liberty. Surely God is free. But God cannot sin. It is, therefore, no mark of liberty^ C 
to be under the power of sin ; on the contrary it is the very brand of slavery'. The power ' 
of sin implies the possibility of becoming a slave of sin and the devil. Those then whoV|y 
are greatly under the power of sin, and so go to hell, cannot truly' be called free men. ( ; ( 
They are blinded and brutalized by satisfying the promptings of their brute nature, and 
thus renounce their glorious freedom, to sell it for a bestial gratification. He only is truly' 
free who wills and does what God wishes him to do for his everlasting happiness. Now, 
as we have seen, God wishes that all should be saved in the Roman Catholic Church, 

Those, therefore, who believe and do what the Church teaches do not lose their liberty; 
on the contrary', they enjoy true liberty and make the proper use of it. Hence, the 
greater our pov/er of will is and the less difficulty we experience in following the teaching 
of the Church, the greater is our liberty. Accordingly Catholics who live up to the 
teaching of the Church, enjoy greater liberty, and peace, and happiness than Protestant 
unbelievers, because they are the children of the light of truth that leads them to 
heaven; whilst those who live out of the Church are the children of the darkness of 
error, which leads them finally into the aby'ss of hell. 

If no one then can be saved except in the Roman Ciijjjjofip Church, all those who 
are out of it are bound to become members of the ChurcMi^niS is what common-sense 
tells every non-Catholic. In worldly affairs, Prote 4 tajy^^e\ f er presume to act without 
good advice. They never compromise their pecmm/y^ftercst s or their lives by becoming 
their own private interpreters and practitiop^i^yl^^i^^rrredicine. Both the legal and 





the medical books are before them, written by modern authors, in clear and explicit lan- 
guage, but they have too much practical common-sense to attempt their interpretation. 
They prefer always to employ expert lawyers and physicians and accept their interpreta- 
tions and act according to their advice. Now every non-Catholic believes that every 
practical member of the Catholic Church will be saved. Hence, when there is question 
about eternal salvation and eternal damnation, a sensible man will take the surest way 
to heaven. It was this that decided Henry IV of France to abjure his errors. A historian 
relates that this king, having called before him a conference of the doctors of either 
Church and seeing that the Protestant ministers agreed with one accord that salvation 
was attainable in the Catholic religion, immediately addressed a Protestant minister in 
the following manner: “Now, sir, is it true that people can be saved in the Catholic 
religion?” “Most assuredly it is, sire, provided they live up to it.” “If that be so,” 
said the monarch, “prudence demands that I should be of the Catholic religion not of 
yours, seeing that in the Catholic Church I may be saved, as even you admit; whereas, 
if I remain in yours, Catholics maintain that I cannot be saved. Both prudence and 
good sense tell me that I should follow the surest way and so I propose doing.” Some 
days after, the king made his abjuration at St. Denis. 

Christ assures us that the way to everlasting life is narrow* and trodden by few. The 
Catholic religion is that narrow road to heaven. Protestantism, on the contrary, is that 
broad way to perdition trodden by so many. He who is content to follow the crowd 
condemns himself by taking the broad way. A man says: “ I would like to believe but 
I cannot.” You say you “ cannot believe.” But what have you done, what means have 
you employed, in order to acquire the gift of faith? If you have neglected the means, 
you show* clearly that you do not desire the end. 

God bestowed great praise upon His servant Job. He said of him that “he was a 
simple and upright man, fearing God and avoiding evil.” There is nothing that renders 
a soul more acceptable to God than simplicity and sincerity of heart in seeking Him. 
There is, on the other hand, nothing more detestable to Him than a double-minded man 
who does not walk sincerely with his God : “ Woe to them that are of a double heart, . . . 
and to the sinner that goeth on the earth two ways.” Such a man should not expect that 
the Lord will enlighten and direct him. Our Saviour assures us that His heavenly 
Father makes Himself known to the little ones, that is, to those who have recourse to 
Him with a simple and sincere heart. 

This sincerity and uprightness of heart with God are especially necessary for him 
who is in search of the true religion. We see around us numberless jarring sects contra- 
dicting one another ; we see the one condemning what the other approves and approving 
what others condemn; we see some embracing certain divine truths and others rejecting 
those truths with horror as the doctrine of devils. Now common-sense tells every one 
that both parties cannot be right, that the true religion cannot be on either side. Among 
such confusion of opinions the mind is naturally at a loss how to discover that one true 
Church in whose bosom the truth is to be found. 








In the search after truth one must find immense difficulties. There is prejudice. 
It is the effect of early training, of life-long teaching, of reading, and of living in the 
world. It is the result of almost imperceptible impressions, and yet its force, as an 
obstacle, is such as in many cases to defy human efforts to remove it. It is like the 
snow which begins to fall as the darkness sets in on roof and road, in little flakes that 
come down silently all the night and in the morning the branches bend, the doors are 
blocked, and the traffic on road and rail is brought to a standstill. 

There, again, is the favor of friends, the fear of what the world will say, worldly 
interest, and the like. All these will be set to work by the enemy of souls to blind the 
understanding that it may not see the truth and to avert the will from embracing it. 
Nothing but a particular grace from heaven can enlighten the mind to perceive the light 
of truth through such clouds of darkness and to strengthen the will with courage to 
embrace it, in spite of all these difficulties. It is, without doubt, the will of God, that 
“all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth;” but it is also the 
will of God that, in order to come to this knowledge, men must seek it with a sincere and 
upright heart, and this sincerity of heart must show itself in their earnest desire to know 
the truth : “ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be filled.” 
Hence they must labor diligently to find out the truth, using every means in their power 
for that purpose. Negligence of inquiry and the evidences of our faith are great, and 
therefore the ignorance of many must needs be highly sinful. Man’s understanding was 
given to him to enable him to embrace holy and salutary truths. Negligence in this is 
worthy of damnation; and as everything tends easily to its natural end, so our natural 
intellectual virtue is nearer finding God than it is finding His contrary, for God is always 
ready to aid those who seek Him with a good and honest heart; and thus we find that 
to Cornelius, a pagan, yet living religiously, and fearing God, St. Peter was sent to convert 
him and all his family. God, says St. Thomas Aquinas, will send an angel to a man 
ignorant of the Christian law but living up to his conscience, to instruct him in the 
Christian religion rather than let him perish through inculpable ignorance. 

There are laws to regulate man’s will and affections, and so there are also laws to 
fix limits to his understanding — to determine what he should believe and what he 
should not believe; and therefore ignorance is damnable, for men ought to believe 
what they do not; and they ought curiously to inquire what are these laws. Whereas, 
the multitude run with all their strength, to sin and death as their end, and it is not 
strange that they should find it. 

The first and great cause of all these errors is negligence of inquiry ; and the second 
is aversion to believe what ought to be believed of God and a hatred for the things 
that would enlighten and convert the soul. If men will not heed either holy words or 
miracles it is not strange that they remain in error. They must study religion with a 
sincere desire to find out the truth. If they wish to find out the truth they must not 
appeal to the enemies of truth. They must consult those who are well instructed in their 
religion and who practice it. They must consult the priest. He will explain to them 

374 





the.t fue docjjaae-^ff'the Catholic Church. Moreover, sincerity'of heart miTSt'lfhpw itself 
xp a ^Hfresolution to embrace the truth whenever it shall be found and whatever it 
m^^cos\ the seeker. He must prefer it before every worldly considera£rafte*uid be'fceady- 
fto forfeit everything in this life, the affections of his friends, a comfortable home>^emporal\ 
gp<fas and prospects in business, rather than deprive his soul of so great a treasure \ \ 

How often do we meet with men who tell us that they would gladly become Catmolfck\ 
but it is too hard to live up to the laws and maxims of the Church! They krflJW vfcroA 
well that if they become Catholics they must lead honest and sober lives, they musVbA ' 
pure, they must respect the holy sacrament of marriage, they must check their sinttm 
passions; and this they are unwilling to do: “Men love darkness rather than light, 
says Jesus Christ, “because their deeds are evil.’’ Remember the well-known proverb:?^ 
“There are none so deaf as those that will not hear.” 

They are kept back from embracing the faith because they know that the truths of 
our religion are at war with their sinful inclinations. It is not surprising that these 
inclinations should revolt against immolation. The prudence of the flesh understands 
and feels that it loses all, if the truths of faith are listened to and taken for the rule of 
conduct; that it must renounce the unlawful enjoyments of life, must die to the world 
and to itself, and bear the mortification of Jesus Christ in its body. 

At the mere thought of this crucifixion of the flesh and its concupiscence imposed on 
every one who would belong to the Saviour, the whole animal man is troubled. Self-love 
suggests a thousand reasons to delay at least the sacrifices that affright them. The 
prudence of the flesh, having the ascendency, obscures the most simple truths, attracts 
and flatters the powers of the soul; and when afterward, faith endeavors to interpose its 
authority, it finds the understanding prejudiced, the will overcome or weakened, the 
heart all earthly-minded; and hard, indeed, is it for faith to reduce the soul to its 
dominion. Those who listen to the prudence of the flesh will never become Catholics. 

Finally, those who seek the truth must show their sincerity of heart in fervently 
and frequently praying to God that they may find the truth, and the right way that 
leads to it. Faith is not a mere natural gift; it is not an acquired virtue or habit; it 
is something altogether supernatural. The right use of the natural facilities can, indeed, 
prepare one to receive faith; but true faith — that is, to believe with an unwavering^ 
conviction in the existence of all those things which God has made known — is a super- 
natural gift — a gift which no one can have of himself ; it is the free gift of God : “For 
by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, for it is the gift of 
God.” God is so great and good that 
we may do. Now, it is by 
all that God is, and that c 
behold we are saved! We 
us the Lord saves us : “ The 
this gift is a free gift/^-Gi 
grace shines upon thdfund< 


ion. ’ ’ Hence it is evident that 
our part. When this light or 
^(rstanding so as to render it 




most certain of the truths which are proposed to it. But this mere knowledge of the 
truth is not as yet the full gift of faith. St. Paul says that the heathens knew God 
but they would not obey Him and consequently their knowledge did not save them. 
You may convince a man that the Catholic Church is the true Church, but he will not, 
on that account, become a Catholic. Our Saviour himself was known by many and yet 
He was followed only by few. Faith then is something more than knowledge. Knowl- 
edge is the submission of the understanding to truth, but faith implies also the sub- 
mission of the will to the truth. It is for this reason that the light of grace must also 
move the will, because a good will also belongs to faith, since no one can believe unless 
he is willing to believe. It is for this reason that faith is also rewarded by God and 
infidelity punished: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that 
believeth not shall be condemned.” God will never refuse to bestow this gift of faith 
upon those who seek the truth with a sincere heart, use their best endeavors to find it, 
and sincerely pray for it with confidence and perseverance. Witness Clovis, the heathen 
King of the Franks. When he, together with his whole army, was in the greatest danger 
of being defeated by the Alemanni, he prayed as follows: 

“Jesus Christ, Thou of whom Clotilde (the king’s Christian wife) has often told me 
that Thou art the Son of the living God, and that Thou givest aid to the hard-pressed, 
and victory to those who trust in Thee! I humbly crave Thy powerful assistance. If 
Thou grantest me the victory over my enemies I will believe in Thee and be baptized 
in Thy name, for I have called upon my gods in vain. They must be impotent, as they 
cannot help those who serve them. Now I invoke Thee, desiring to believe in Thee; 
do, then, deliver me from the hands of my adversaries!” 

No sooner had he uttered this prayer than the Alemanni were panic-stricken, took 
to flight, and soon after, seeing their king slain, sued for peace. Thereupon Clovis 
blended .both nations, the Franks and the Alemanni, together, returned home, and 
became a Christian. 

Witness F. Thayer, an Anglican minister. When as yet in great doubt and uncer- 
tainty about the truth of his religion, he began to pray as follows : 

“God of all goodness, almighty and eternal Father of mercies, and Saviour of 
mankind! I implore Thee, by thy sovereign goodness, to enlighten my mind, and to 
touch my heart, that, by means of true faith, hope, and charity, I may live and die in 
the true religion of Jesus Christ. I confidently believe that, as there is but one God, 
there can be but one faith, one religion, one only path to salvation; and that every other 
path opposed thereto can lead but to perdition. This path, O my God! I anxiously 
seek after, that I may follow it, and be saved. Therefore I protest, before Thy divine 
majesty, and I swear by all Thy divine attributes, that I will follow the religion which 
Thou shalt reveal to me as the true one, and will abandon at whatever cost, that wherein 
I shall have discovered errors and falsehood. I confess that I do not deserve this favor 
for the greatness of my sins, for which I am truly penitent, seeing they offend a God 
who is so good, so holy, and so worthy of love; but what I deserve not, I hope to obtain 

376 










from Thine infinite mercy; and I beseech Thee to grant it unto me through the merits 
of that precious blood which was shed for us sinners by thine only Son, Jesus Christ our 
Lord, who liveth and reigneth, etc. Amen.” 

God was not slow to hear so sincere and fervent a prayer, and Thayer became a 
Catholic. Let any one who is as yet groping in the darkness of infidelity and error 
pray in the same manner, am/ the God of all light and truth will bestow upon him the 
gift of faith in a high degree. It is human to fall into error, devilish to remain in it, and 
angelical to rise from it, by embracing the truth which leads to God, by whom it has 
been revealed and is preserved in His Church. 

Will all Catholics be saved? 

A o: those Catholics only will be saved who believe and practice what the Church teaches. 

"We teach, indeed, and we firmly believe that there is no salvation out of the Catholic 
Church; yet we do not teach that all who are members of the Catholic Church will be 
saved. Certainly in our cities and large towns, nay, even in small villages of our great 
country, may be found many so-called liberal or nominal Catholics, who are no credit 
to their religion, to their spiritual mother Church. Subjected as they were to the 
tyrannical yoke of Protestant misrule, and driven from the land of their birth, even 
when cast as exiles on foreign shores, they never forgot the faith of their fathers, and 
always have distinguished themselves as faithful children of God’s Church. That Church 
watches over them from the moment they set foot on our shores until their dying hour, 
always admonishing, always pointing out with the finger of God, her Founder, saying, 
Obey my law and you will obtain heaven. 

“That servant,” says Jesus Christ, “who knew the will of his Lord, and did not 
according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not and 
did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. And unto whomsoever 
much is given, of him much shall be required; and to whom they have committed much, 
of him they will demand the more.” “Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida; 
for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the mighty works that have been wrought in 
you, they would have done penance long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it 
will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you; and thou, 
Capharnaum, which art exalted unto heaven, thou shalt be thrust down to hell.” 
To know, then, and to believe the Catholic doctrine, — the will of God, — is one thing, 
and to live up to it is another. Hence, “ Not the hearers of the law are just before God, 
but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Holy Scripture compares the true faith, 
sometimes to a buckler and sometimes to a sword. The buckler protects him only who 
covers himself with it; and a sword, to be useful to repel an enemy, must be drawn 
from the scabbard. So it is not mere faith but its practice which constitutes its merit, 
strength and reward. The Gospel brought light and death: light to those who practice 
it and death to those who neglect its practice. “From the days of John the Baptist 
'until now,” savs our Lord, “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent 

377 


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bear it away.” The difference between the practical and the lukewarm Christian is 
simply this: the latter regards faith as a matter of fact but without its consequences 
or practical part. He remembers, it is true, from time to time, the great truths of 
religion: death, judgment, heaven and hell; but he remembers these and other truths, 
and his duties, only in a superficial manner; he never reflects seriously on them and for 
this reason he is never touched by them. No wonder if he continues to walk on the 
broad road to hell and is lost. But the practical Christian always tries to walk on the 
narrow road to heaven. He constantly meditates upon the sacred truths of his religion. 
Everywhere he carries with him their wholesome impression. The truths of faith 
animate him in all the details of life. He has for his principle of action the Holy Ghost, — 
the Spirit of Jesus Christ. It is no more he who lives; it is Jesus Christ who lives in him. 
Accordingly, he judges of the things of this world in the knowledge which Jesus Christ 
has given us in their regard; that is, he judges of them even as Jesus Christ himself 
judges of them. Hence it is that he fears only that which faith teaches him to fear. 

He desires only those things which faith tells him to wish for; he hopes only for that 
which faith teaches him to hope for. He loves, he hates, or he despises, all that faith 
teaches him to love, to hate, or despise. What does he say of the riches of this world ?_ 
He says, with Jesus Christ: ‘‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdor 
f heaven”; and, ‘‘Woe to you that are rich, for you have your consolation.” 

What does he say of the honors of this world? He says, with Jesus Christ: “ WoeN~J 
to you when men shall bless you.” 

What does he say of the wisdom of this world? He says, with St. Paul: ‘‘The 
wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” And with Jesus Christ, he says: “ Unless 
you become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” 

What judgment does he pass upon the pleasures of this world? He says, with 
Jesus Christ: ‘‘Woe to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep.” ‘‘Watch 
ye, therefore, because you know not at what hour the Lord will come.” 

What judgment does he pass upon old age? With the Holy Ghost, he says: ‘‘Ven- 
erable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years, but a spotless 
life is old age.” 

What does he say of the trials, persecutions and injustices of this world? He says, 
with Jesus Christ: ‘‘Blessed shall ye be when men shall hate you, and when they shall 
separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of 
man’s sake. Be glad in that day and rejoice, for behold your reward is great in heaven.” 

He watches and prays. He watches over his soul that no sinful thought may 
enter there; and should it enter unawares, he casts it out instantly. He watches over 
his heart, that no sinful affection may possess it. He watches over his eyes, that they 
may not gaze on any pictures, books or other objects that could soil the purity of his soul.^ 
He watches over his ears, that they may not listen to any immodest words or words of 
double meaning. He watches over his tongue, and remembers that his tongue has 
been sanctified in holy communion, by touching the virginal flesh and blood of Jesus 

378 


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Christ. He watches over his whole body; for he knows that the body of the good 
Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost, consecrated in baptism, and that he who 
desecrates a holy temple is accursed of God. He is watchful day and night, and avoids 
the occasions of sin, — those persons and places which might be to him an occasion of sin. 

He also prays often to Jesus. He knows that Jesus is a jealous God, who commands 
us to call upon Him, especially in the hour of temptation, and to receive Him often in 
holy communion. He prays to Mary, the mother of faith, the lovely standard-bearer 
of all the elect. The very name of Mary is sweet balm to him, which heals and fortifies 
the soul. The very thought of Mary’s purity is a check upon his passions — a fragrant 
rose that puts to flight the foul spirit of uncleanness. 

Thus he thinks, judges, and acts according to the truths of the Gospel, or the 
principles of Jesus Christ; and it is thus that he lives by faith, as St. Paul says. Faith 
is the life of the just man. It is the life of his intellect, by the truths which enlighten 
him ; it is the life of his heart by the sentiments of justice and holiness which it imparts ; 
it is the life of his works, which it renders meritorious for all eternity; and this happy 
life is obtained and enjoyed in the Church Militant of Christ alone — in the One Holy 
Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, “which Christ so took unto himself, as to make 
it a partaker of his own divinity. He, therefore, who confesses in God this holy Church 
is so united to Christ as to be translated into the whole glory of His divinity — the body 
being united to its head; the Bride (Church) to her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.” 

What do we believe when we say, I believe the holy Catholic Church? 

We believe: i, that the holy Catholic Church alone is the true Church of Christ ; 2, that 
she is infallible in her teaching and endless in her duration; 3, that out of the Catholic Church 
there is no salvation. 

It is now nearly twenty centuries since the Roman Catholic Church was established 
by Christ. Ever since that time she has been like a “city set upon a hill, which cannot 
be hid.” She can be seen by all. She can be known to all by the marks of unity, 
holiness, Catholicity and Apostolicity, which are indelibly stamped upon her. She is 
“one body,” living under one Head; she is “one sheepfold under one Shepherd;” she 
is a kingdom under one King; she is an ark or ship commanded by one Captain; she 
is built on an immovable rock, which is Peter; she is possessed of the rights of Jesus 
Christ; she is the infallible teacher of the doctrines of Jesus Christ; she exercises the 
authority of Jesus Christ; she is the faithful guardian of the spiritual treasures of Jesus 
Christ; she lives by the life and spirit of Jesus Christ; she is guided and protected by 
Jesus Christ; she speaks, she gives orders and commands, she makes concessions, pro- 
hibitions and definitions; she looses and binds, in the name of Jesus Christ. 

The Church is the salt of the earth, which preserves the world from corruption; 
she is the guide of men, to prevent them from falling into the pitfalls of Satan; she is 
the light of the world, to reveal to mankind the false maxims which are gnawing at their 
lives and the fallacies which are undermining their happiness; she is the remedy for 


all ills and the fountain of all blessings; she can never give up the work for which Jesus 
Christ has established her; she has Christ’s promises: “I will give you the spirit of 
faith;” -“I will be with you always;” “The gates of hell shall not prevail against thee;” 
“Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you 
shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven;” “He that heareth you heareth me;” 
“If any man will not hear the Church, let him be as the pagan and a publican;” “The 
Church is the pillar and foundation of the truth.” 

From the time of the apostles the true followers of Christ have been called Catholics. 
The meaning of this appellation has always been that they belonged to the One Holy 
Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church. The term “Catholic” has always distinguished 
them from every heretical sect. They were known by this term in every part of the 
world. 

Liberal Catholics falsely assert “that it is a mistake to protect and foster religion; 
because religion,” they say, “will flourish much better if left alone; that the world has 
entered a new phase, and has begun to run a new course, and consequently the Church 
should accommodate herself to the spirit of the age; that religion has nothing to do 
with politics. The Catholic Church proclaims that it has to do only with the private 
lives of men; that religion must keep inside the Church — that it is meant for Sundays 
alone; that we must be generous in our religious feelings toward non-Catholics; that 
a Catechism, therefore, in which every truth taught by the Church is set forth in its 
full bearing, is not fit to be put in the hands of our children, because it is calculated to 
repel the children of non-Catholics, and alienate their feelings, and to make religious 
fanatics of our good children,” and the like. A Liberal Catholic, therefore, is a compound 
of true and false principles. He has two consciences: one for his public, and another 
for his private life. The motto, “Catholic with the pope, but liberal with the govern- 
ment,” has for its basis the infidel doctrine of the separation of the Church from the State ; 
of the spiritual from the temporal. This doctrine tends to put the State above the 
Church, as if the State were the omnipotent ruler of all things, the teacher of truth, the 
fountain of right, the source of law, and the interpreter of faith. 

A Liberal Catholic is no true Catholic. The word Catholic is no vain and empty 
word. To be a true Catholic means to hold most firmly all those truths which Christ 
and His apostles have taught, which the Catholic Church has always proclaimed, which 
the saints have professed, which the popes and councils have defined, and which the 
Fathers and Doctors of the Church have defended. He who denies but one of those 
truths or hesitates to receive one of them, is not a Catholic. He claims to exercise the 
right of private judgment in regard to the doctrine of Christ and therefore he is a heretic. 
The true Catholic knows and believes that there can be no compromise between God 
and the devil, between truth and error, between orthodox faith and heresy. St. Stephen, 
the first martyr, was no compromiser. When accused of being a follower of Jesus of 
Nazareth, he in his turn accused his enemies of being the murderers of Christ. All the 
holy martyrs of the Church were no compromisers. Being charged by the heathens 

380 


with the folly of worshiping and following a crucified God, they in their turn, charged 
the heathens with the impiety of worshiping creatures, and following the devil. Why 
is our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, a prisoner? It is because he is not, and cannot be, 
a compromiser. Why are, at this time, so many bishops and priests exiled or in prison? 
It is because they are no compromisers. Why is the Catholic Church persecuted in 
France and other parts of the world? It is because God, by means of persecution, 
purifies His Church from liberal or compromising Catholics. And as there are so many 
liberal Catholics in this country, persecution must come to separate them from the 
Church. 

The good Catholic knows and understands that the Catholic Church nevei has 
required, nor will require, a particular form of civil government; for she has lived with 
the Venetian aristocracy, with the Swiss democracy, with the mixed aristocracy and 
democracy of Genoa, with the British and the United States constitutions, and with 
many absolute monarchies. But he knows, at the same time, that no form of govern- 
ment, no times and circumstances, can change the doctrine and constitution of the 
Church, because they are divine, immutable, and everlasting. The good Catholic 
therefore is always in readiness to obey in all things, the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, 
the holy Roman Catholic Church. The well-instructed Catholic knows that between 
Jesus Christ and His Spouse, the Church, there is but one and the same Spirit, who 
governs and directs us to all our salvation, — that same Spirit and Lord who one day 
gave the law on Mount Sinai, and who now rules and governs the holy Church. This 
firm adhesion to every truth of the Church distinguishes the true Catholic from the 
Liberal Catholic, as well as from all Protestants, from all- schismatics, from all heretics. 
When Protestants abandoned the Church, the guardian of divine truth, they gave them- 
selves up to hundreds of errors. Good Catholics, on the contrary, keeping as they do 
in the footsteps of the Church, and humbly submitting to all her doctrines, retain within 
themselves the principle of truth and of divine certainty. They feel assured that what 
the Church orders is ordered by Jesus Christ; and that what the Church forbids is also 
forbidden by Jesus Christ. 

The principle of heresy is the principle of rebellion against the Church and against 
every lawful authority on earth. The principle of the Church on the contrary, is to 
be submissive to every lawful authority. The essential principle of politics and of life 
is ardently to love the Church, profoundly to revere the Church, unhesitatingly to 
submit to the Church, and to be most closely united with the Church. Our Lord asks 
of us no other submission; He requires of us no other faith than that which the Church 
teaches. His will and His truth are made known in the Church. As He and His Father 
are one, so also He and His Church are one. No one can, in truth, call God his Father, 
who does not look upon the Church as his mother. 

In the Church alone there are certainty and security against error. Around this 
Rock we behold nothing but raging tempests, nothing but disastrous shipwrecks, indif- 
feience to religion, negation of all worship, the abomination of atheism and immorality, 

38 r 






derision of holy things, a fanatic pietism, a delirious religiousness, rationalism, or the 


denial of all revelation and of everything supernatural. Every non-Catholic who 
earnestly seeks to leant what he is to believe, every one who yearns to obtain certainty in 


-j 


religious matters, must sooner or later turn to the Church as the only source of certainty, 
the only guardian of the true religion, the only fountain of true peace and happiness in 


life and in death. 


There are many noble-hearted souls created by God for a high purpose — to shine 
amid the angels throughout all eternity. Their sensibilities are so keen that they seem 


born only to suffer and weep. Their path to heaven is, indeed, a path of thorns. Their 


griefs and yearnings are such that but few can understand them. God help these noble 
souls if they are deprived of the strength and consolations of the Catholic Church! 
Out of the Church they must bear their anguish alone. In the hour of happiness they 
were told that religion would console them in the hour of sorrow. And now the hour 
of sorrow has come. Whither shall they turn for strength and consolation? To books — 
to the Bible? Books are cold and wearisome; their works are dead. Oh! how they 
envy the penitent Magdalen, who could sit at the feet of Jesus and hear from His blessed 
lips the sweet words of pardon and peace ? They turn to God in prayer, but God answers 
them not by the Urim and Thummim; and, in their doubt and loneliness, they envy 
even the Jews of old. In vain do they listen to the voice of God, because God has 
appointed a voice to speak and answer in His name; but that voice is only within the 
shepherd’s fold, the Roman Catholic Church; and they are kept without the fold by 
cruel enemies, where the voice of the shepherd cannot reach them. 

How different it is with the faithful Catholic soul ! Try to call to mind some virtuous 
friend of yours, try to imagine one who is learned and pious, devoting his whole life, not 
to the care of a family, but solely to the service of God; imagine such a one ever ready 
to aid you in your necessities, spiritual and even temporal, ever wise in giving counsel, 
gentle in reproving, clear in teaching, and powerful in word and deed; imagine that 
such a one were your friend, — your intimate friend, — how great would be your happiness! 

Imagine, moreover, that this kind, trustworthy friend is appointed by God Himself 
to be your constant guide and director; imagine him bound by the most sacred oath 
never to reveal, even by word or look, any secret you may confide to him; imagine, 
moreover, that this friend has received from God the power to forgive every sin that 
you confess to him with true contrition, — imagine all this, and you will have what every 
Catholic has in the priest of his Church. The priest, invested as he is by the Church 
with her divine powers, stands conspicuous in the midst of his people. He has, however, 
not received his extraordinary powers for himself, he has received them for the benefit 
of the people; he is to live, not for himself, no, he is to live for the people; he is the 
companion of their hardships ; he is the soother of their afflictions, the guardian of their 
interests; he is the trustee of their hearts, the sentinel of their deathbeds. Hence the 
good Catholic is accustomed, even from his childhood, to communicate to his confessor 
every trial and temptation that disturbs his peace of heart. He goes to his confessor 



382 






for consolation in the houj* of darkness and/sorrow ; h£$ff sks* his advice when in doubt? 
he consults him in every impotent undeftaking./^ €h^ Lord Jesus Christ promised His 
beloved disciples that though He wdutcRquTt the^earth, yet He would not leave them 
orphans He would send them the Spirit of Truth to be their comforter. Now this 
divine promise was ratified, and even in a great measure fulfilled, when, on Easter Sunday 
night. Jesus appeared to His apostles, and gave them the Holy Ghost, saying: “Receive 
ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose- 
soever sins you retain, they are retained.” At that solemn moment Jesus constituted 
His priests fathers of the faithful, from whom they were to receive the spirit of grace and 
consolation, even to the end of time. 

The same divine hand which poured such wonderful affection into the heart of the 
mother, fills the heart of the good priest with divine charity and teaches him to adapt 
his treatment to the spiritual wants of his penitent. The priest feels for his penitent 
as an earthly father feels for his child; and as a spiritual father, he judges and decides 
according as he thinks it is best for the eternal welfare of the penitent. 

To the faithful Catholic soul, the portals of the Catholic Church, his most tender 
mother, stand ever open. Hither she may come as to a healing fountain, whose waters 
ever flow. Here she may lave her burning brow, here she may drink of the cooling f 
stream, and allay the feverish anguish of her soul. Here Jesus Himself, the dearest 
of friends, speaks to her by the mouth of him to whom He has given the Holy Ghost, — 
the spirit of consolation. 

Mrs. Moore, a very intelligent lady of Edinton, North Carolina, and a convert to 
our holy faith, said to her Protestant children on her deathbed: “O my children! 
there is such hope, such comfort in our holy religion! When I was so near death, and 
believed I should never see you again, my soul was filled with anguish. When I thought 
I was so soon to meet my God, I feared; but when I had made my confession to his own 
commissioned minister, and received absolution in the name of the Holy Trinity, death 
was divested of every sting. Each day I thank God more and more that he has given 
me grace to break the ties that kept me from the Church. I have never looked back 
with regret, and, in fact, I wonder why I could ever have been anything but a Catholic.” 

Go to the sick-bed ; draw near the bedside of that poor wretch whom every one has 
forsaken ; ask him who is the consoling angel that pours upon his weary heart the balm 
of hope and consolation, and he will tell you it is the Roman Catholic priest. About 
twenty years ago, when the French troops were encamped around Gallipolis, the cholera 
burst suddenly upon them. They were unprepared for that terrible visitor. Father 
Gloriot, S. J., was alone in an army of ten thousand men. “I was obliged,” says he, 
“to hear their confessions on my knees, and stooping by their couches. Indeed, I 
learned then that to save souls for Jesiis-Xhrist, itis^nec^safy-to undergo with Him, 
the double agony of mind and body. Ye® rrg^reatest trial was my loneliness. I was 
alone ; I had not had the consol^k 5 n^pf 4 ^%ssid^ for six weeks past ; everybody died 
around me, and, should fn^t^kgj^'Sick, t\wre wa’s' none 

383 







But God in His mercy preserved me that I might attend to the wants of souls so well 
prepared. The trials were certainly great, but grea^ were also the consolations. When- ■.*, 
ever I/fefltered those places of desolation, I was hailed fjpnr'all parts — ‘Chaplain, here||fp 
come; here to me! Make haste to reconcile me to Goaii^l have only a few moments td^|| 
live!’ ; Some would press my hand to their hearts, and say with grateful feelings: ‘ How 
ittckj^for us that you are here ! Were you not with us who would console us in our last 
moments ? ’ ” 

v /Enter the dark and mouldy dungeon where the unhappy prisoner 
weary captivity; ask him who it is that lightens his chains and makes pnson walls A 
look less dreary ,^.nd he will tell you it is the priest of the Catholic Church.,^ 7 ; 

Go upon the. scaffold where the wretched criminal is about to expiate his crhtr^ 0 
Who is it that stands at his side and strips death of its terrors? It is again the priest/" . 
With one hand the priest shows the dying man the cross, the hope of the repentari^^P 
sinner, and with the other he points to heaven, that blessed home where the weary 
find rest. 

In 1851, a murder was committed near Paris, in France. A captain of the cara- 
bineers, an excellent officer, beloved by all, going, as usual, the rounds of the stables, 
had reprimanded one of the troopers whose conduct had not been very regular. The 
latter made no reply, but turned away with apparently a calm countenance, and went 
up to the mess-room. There he loaded one of his horse-pistols, and, going back to the 
stable, approached his captain, and, with a deadly aim, discharged the arm against the 
loins of the officer. 

The unfortunate man fell, weltering in blood. They took him up, carried him to ■ 
his room, and the surgeons pronounced the wound mortal. In fact, the poor captain 
breathed his last a few hours after in the arms of his old mother, in the midst of horrible 1 

sufferings, endured heroically, and with sentiments of faith and charity truly admirable. 

He had made his confession with great piety, had received the blessed sacrament, and 
in imitation of his divine Master praying on the cross for his crucifiers, had pardoned 
his murderer and begged for his pardon with the most touching and pressing appeal. 

The murderer had been arrested on the spot, and transferred to the prison in Paris. J 
There he was abandoned by all, except by the priest. Two or three days after the deed 
had been committed, the priest went to see the trooper for the first time, in the cell of 
the military prison. He encouraged him to hope in the mercy of God, and to prepare 
himself for a good confession, and to accept death in expiation for his crime. The poor 
criminal was touched by the words of the priest, and said: “I have beem^he victim of 
a moment of fury and insanity. It was a punishment from God whom abandofi^^.^ 
!|plad I always pV^ed aspdo now I should not have come to this pass. My father £aij|_ 

Ao me often: ‘Fea and pray to Him; He alone is good, all the rest are n 
But it is so hard tdSflo so at the regimenf; we are always surrounded by young men 
who say nothing but what is bad.” When he heard that he was sentenced to death, he 
exclaimed: ‘‘The sentence is just; to appeal would be going against the goodness, of 

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God. They would show me a mercy that I do not wish for, because the punishment 
must be undergone. I must atone for what I have done. My hopes are no longer here 
below; I have only God now to look to. He is now everything to me; in Him alone do 
I trust; I feel quite calm; I feel no rebellion in my heart; I am perfectly resigned to 
the will of God.” 

Now, what brought about that calmness, that happiness, in this poor prisoner? 
It was his sincere confession, which the priest was kind enough to hear; it was holy 
communion, which the priest brought to him several times; in a word, it was the charity 
of the priest, who often went to see him in his prison in order to console him and to 
inspire him with great confidence in the mercy of God. 

During the three hours and a half of the drive to the place of execution he never 
lost his calmness; God was with him in the person of the priest who accompanied him 
to the Savory Plains, where he was to be shot. What a touching spectacle to behold, 
a tall man, the culprit, followed by the priest of God; to see how the priest was even 
paler than the culprit; and to see them walking side by side, you would think that he 
was the one to be shot! 

The expression of the culprit’s countenance was great calmness and resignation, 
his eyes betrayed at once sorrow and hope. He seemed to pray with fervor. There 
was no sadness in his looks, there could even be seen the reflection of a certain inward 
joy. He listened, with love and deep attention to the words addressed to him by the 
minister of Jesus Christ. When the priest said to him, “Our Lord is between us two, 
my poor child, we are always well when the good Saviour is with us,” he replied: “0 
yes, my heart is perfectly happy! I did not think I should tell you, but I feel as if I 
was going to a wedding. God has permitted all this for my good, to save my soul. 
I feel so much consoled, thinking that my poor captain died a good Christian! I am 
going to see him, he is praying for me now. My God has saved me; I feel that He will 
have mercy on me. He ascended Calvary carrying His cross; I accompany him. I 
shall not resist whatever they wish to do with me — tie me, or bandage my eyes. Ah ! the 
poor soldiers are lost because they do not listen to you priests. Without you, without 
religion, the whole world would be lost!” 

When they drove by the barracks, where he had committed the murder, he offered 
a prayer for his captain. “ I can’t conceive how I could have done it! I had no ill-will 
against him ! Could the commission of a sin save me from being shot, I would not do it : 
I think so now. I have nothing to keep me here, I am going to see God! ” 

When they had arrived at the place of execution, the priest and the culprit alighted. 
An officer read the sentence. The culprit replied: “I acknowledge the justice of my 
punishment, I am sorry for what I have done, I beg of God to pardon me; I love Him 
with all my heart ! ” Then he knelt ; the priest gave him the crucifix to kiss, for the last 
time. “My father,” he said, with feeling expression, — “my father, I place my soul 
within your hands; I unite my death with that of my Saviour, Jesus. Farewell! fare- 
well!” The priest embraced him once,jjiore. Then, with his arms extended in the 






y^tp^pr^y at some distance* , Oii@ !5 »5tMute 0 after, human justice had been satisfied, and 
&oul of the unfortunate soldier, i^nfied' and Transformed by religion, had fled to the 
bosom of Him who pardons all tiio&e whaj^ ^ h-nt. The priest resumed his place b}/7^ 
him, and, with tears in his eyes, prayed, ^C^^^iees, for the departed soul of the unfor- 
, ) tunate carabineer. y ^ - r ju 

Go where you will, through all the miseries of this life, and you will find that every- y 
where the consoling angel of God, the father of the poor and friendless, is the priest of ij 
the Catholic Church. He labors day and night, without boasting, wfithout praise, and 
often without any other reward in this life than contempt and ingratitude. If a 
^ dangerous disease breaks out in the parish, the priest does not abandon the post of [ 
t - danger. The Catholic priest is no coward, the Catholic priest-is no hireling. Devoted 

and fearless, he remains to encourage his flock, to give them the last sacraments, and, Yl 
. if need be, even to die with them. \7 h 

-h A A poor man is dying in his wretched hovel. In the midst of the winter’s night the « 
1 ? priest hears a knock at his door; he is told that one of his flock requires his assistance. . 

The bleak winter wind howls around him, the chilling rain beats pitilessly in his face, ' ■ 

r* yet he hurries on ; there is a soul to save, there is a soul to aid in its fearful death-struggle : f 

-f that makes him forget everything else. At last he enters the house of death ; he enters y 
the sick man’s room, though he knows that the very air of that room is loaded with ^ -.y 
7 pestilence. He receives the last whisper of the dying man ; he breathes into his ear the 7 

^ sweet words of pardon and of peace. He bends over the sick man’s infected body, and ^ 

T- breathes the tainted breath from his impoisoned lips. The priest is willing to risk his 
own life, provided he can save the soul of his fellow-man. . 

During the Crimean War, the cholera raged in the division of Herbillon. The 
soldiers became restless, they looked gloomy, and spoke despondingly, because the 
p7>, victims were many, and it was not the kind of death a soldier likes. What troubled the yC 
soldiers most was the prevailing thought that the plague was communicated by contact, V. 7 
and there was great dejection in camp. “What shall we do, Monsieur l’Abbe?” said 
the general to Father Parabere. “Those boys look as if they were frightened.” “Oh, 

' it is necessary to let that fear know that it has to attack Frenchmen and Christians! 
j^eave it to me, general.” And the dauntless priest walked straight to the very quarters 
■i/Fwhere the pest raged most furiously. A poor soldier was in the last convulsions and , 
i .iti the throes of his agony. The heroic priest had still time left to console and to absolve X 
him, and then he closed his eyes. Then he called all the comrades of the dead man 
around his couch, and endeavored to persuade them that the scourge was not contagious; vT* 
: ~Haut as some of them shook their heads, hejidded, “You will not believe me to-day, you 7-5^ 
shall to-morrow.” And just think o£>it, the brave priest Hes down on the same couch ^ s 
with the man dead of cholera, and pre'pares himself to pass the night with that novel\ 
g^'Jbedfellow ! Many hour6 passed away, and Pere: Parabere, who certainly had worked Jjg| 
7- enough during the day to need rest, did not quit his post until he was called to prepare"'^,, 

7' ( ^ J ' i 


another man for death. On the morrow, the whole camp had heard of it, and the soldiers, 
recovering from their fear, said to one another, “There’s a man who has no fear!” 

It is only a few years ago that a young Irish priest, then in the first year of his mission 
in this country, received what to him was literally the death-summons. He was lying 
ill in bed when the “sick-call” reached his house, the pastor of the district being absent. 
The poor young priest did not hesitate a moment: no matter what the consequence to- 
himself might be, the Catholic should not be without the consolations of religion. To 
the dismay of those who knew of his intention and who remonstrated in vain against 
what to them appeared to be an act of madness, he started on his journey, a distance 
of thirty-six miles, which he accomplished on foot, in the midst of incessant rain. Ahl 
who can tell how often he paused involuntarily on that terrible march, or how he reeled 
and staggered as he approached its termination? Scarcely had he reached the sick 
man’s bed, and performed the functions of the ministry, when he was conscious of his 
own approaching death; and there being no brother priest to minister to him in that 
last hour, he administered the viaticum to himself, and instantly sank on the floor, 
a corpse. 

How often does not the priest risk his health, his honor, his life, and even his immortal 
soul, in order to help a poor dying sinner! How often is not the priest found on the 
battle-field, whilst the bullets are whistling, and the shells are shrieking around him! 
How often is he not found on his knees beside the dying soldier, hearing his last confession, 
and whispering into his ear the sweet words of pardon and peace ! How often must not 
the priest visit the plague-stricken in the hospitals, and in the wretched hovels of the 
poor! How often must he not remain, even for hours, in a close room, beside those 
infected with the most loathsome diseases! When all else, when friends and relatives, 
when the nearest and dearest have abandoned the poor dying wretch, then it is that 
only the priest of God can be found to assist him in his last and fearful struggle. 

Whilst St. Charles Borromeo was Bishop of Milan, there broke out a fierce plague in 
that city. The priests of the city generously offered their services. They entered the 
houses of the plague-stricken, they heard their confessions, and administered to them 
the last sacraments. Neither the loathsome disease, nor the fear of certain death, could 
appal them, and they all soon fell victims to their zeal. Death swept them away but 
their places were filled by other generous priests wdio hastened from the neighboring 
towns, and, in a short time, one thousand eight hundred priests fell victims to their 
charity. 

And not in Italy alone, in every clime beneath the sun, the Catholic priest has 
proved the earnestness of his charity, by the generous sacrifice of his life. I need only 
mention the sufferings and heroism of the Catholic priests of Ireland, during the long and 
bloody persecutions that have afflicted that ill-fated country. The Catholic priests of 
Ireland were outlawed; they were commanded to quit the country; they were hunted 
down like wolves. But, for all that, they did not abandon their poor suffering children. 
They laid aside their rich vestments, they laid aside their priestly dress, and disguised 

387 





themselves in the poorest and most humble attire.^T^eir^Ty^fefi^were burned down 
and desecrated; but then the cabins of 1 1 1 epr^p'S rs e e ut e cPpbu nt r yrn e n were opened to 
them. And the Catholic priest shared in tide phvqrty ancTfne sorrows of his poor children. 
He followed them into the forest; he d^ceilujleeb'with them in^o the caves. Often in 
some lonely hut, in the midst of a ck$iry bog, or amid the -wild fastnesses of the rugged 
mountains, the priest could be founcNimfeeling at the bedside of a poor dying father o 
mother, whilst pale and starving children were weeping around. There you could find 
the Catholic priest hearing the last confession of that poor soul, aiding her in her death- 
struggle, and reciting the touching prayers of the Church, by the dim flickering of a poor 
rushlight. The Catholic priest did not abandon his poor, persecuted flock, even though 
he knew that a price was set on his head, though he knew that spies and informers were 
in search of him, though he knew that well-trained bloodhounds were sent out to track 
him. The Catholic priest did not forsake his children, though he knew that if he were 
taken the rack and the gibbet awaited him. He suffered not only poverty and sorrows 
with his poor flock, but he often underwent the most cruel death; for, whenever a priest 
was found in the country, the tender mercy of the tyrant had decreed that he was to be 
hanged, drawn and quartered. 

Would to God I could take you to the Martyrs’ Room in Paris, where priests, loving 
their God and their neighbors, are incessantly preparing themselves to go to preach the 
Gospel, suffer and die for the faith, among the pagans! Would to God you could see 
there that sacred army, filled with generous soldiers of Jesus Christ, who aspire to the 
pacific conquest of infidel realms; who burn with the hope of shedding their blood on 
the battle-fields of faith, sacrifice, and martyrdom; who very often attain, after a life of 
labors, toils, and torments, the ensanguined erowm, which has been the goal of their 
life-long aspirations! 

When they have attained it, when their heads have fallen under a pagan’s sword, 
their vestments, their hallowed bones, the instruments of their martyrdom, are reverently 
gathered by the Christians of the lands where they have been martyred, and sent to Paris; 
and the hall where all these precious relics are gathered is called the Martyrs’ Room. 
The sight alone of this sanctuary, fresh with the blood of those lovers of Jesus Christ, is 
the most eloquent of sermons on the priest’s charity toward the people. Bones and 
skeletons, and skulls of martyred priests, enclosed in glass cases; instruments of martyr- 
om; paintings representing insufferable torments; iron chains which tortured the 
limbs pf the confessors of faith ; ropes which strangled them ; crucifixes crimsoned with 
the blood of those who impressed on them their last kiss of love; garments, ensanguined 
linen : — oh ! what a sight ! Great God, what a lesson ! 

Here a huge cangue, which rested for six long months/ qrpTjjfk shoulders of Bishop 
Borie; there a mat clogged with the blood of John Baj^J&^Gqrnay, wdio upon it was 
beheaded and quartered, like the animal that is but clter'eiifrc^Xear by, a painting describ- 
ing the horrible torment of the blessed Marchm 2 t^yjraH^^iV s ‘executioiiers chopped all 
alive, from head to foot, until he died of sufj^rjftg^^&e^^istion ; everywhere, in every 




corner, the image of the good priest dying for the love of God and of his brethren, 
and of the fiend in human shape crucifying, with an indefatigable hatred, our Lord Jesus 
Christ in the person of His priests. 

If you wish to know what the Catholic priest lias done, go ask the winds, that have 
heard his sighs and his prayers; ask the earth, that has drunk in his tears and his blood; 
go ask the ocean, that has witnessed his death-struggle, whilst speeding on an errand of 
mercy! Go to the dreary shores of the icy North, go to the burning sands of the distant 
South, and the bleached and scattered bones of the Catholic priest will tell you how 
earnestly he has labored for the welfare of his fellow-men. 

If the man}'- happy souls that have died in the arms, died with the blessing of the 
priest, could appear before you at this moment, they would describe to you, in glowing 
language, the great benefits they have derived from the Catholic priest. They would 
say to you: “We were weak and helpless, but the consoling words of the priest gave us 
strength. We trembled at the thought of God’s judgments, but the blessing and absolu- 
tion of the priest gave us a supernatural courage. We were tormented by the assaults 
of the devil, but the power of the priest put the Evil One to flight. We were heartbroken 
at the thought of bidding a long farewell to wife and children, to the nearest and dearest, 
but the priest turned our weeping eyes toward a happier home, where there is no parting, 
no weeping, no mourning any more! And even -when our soul had left the body, wdien 
our friends were shedding fruitless tears over the cold corpse, even then the priest of God 
still followed us with his prayers; he commended us to the mercy of God; he called upon 
the angels and saints to come to our aid, to present us before the throne of God. Ah! 
now we understand, indeed, that whosesoever sins the priest forgives on earth, they are 
truly forgiven them in heaven.” 

The priest has enemies. He knows it, but he does not complain. The world, too, 
hated and persecuted his divine Master. But the priest opens his lips only to pray for 
them ; he raises his hand only to bless them. He remembers the words of Jesus. “ I say 
to you, love your enemies, do good to those that hate you, bless those that curse you, 
and pray for those that persecute and calumniate you;” and, like his divine Master, 
the priest says: “ Father, forgive them.” 

During the French Revolution, a wdcked monster who had often dyed his hands in 
the blood of priests, fell dangerously ill. He had sworn that no priest should ever set 
his foot in his house, and that, if any dared to enter, he should never leave it alive. A 
priest heard of his illness; he heard, too, of the impious vow he had made. But he 
heeded it not. The good shepherd must be ready to lay down his life for his sheep. As 
soon as this wicked monster saw r the priest standing before him, he flew into a rage: 
“What!” cried he, “a priest in my house! Bring me my pistols.” Then the dying 
ruffian raised his brawny arm, and shook it threateningly at the priest. “See!” he 
cried, with a horrible oath, “this arm has murdered twelve of such as you.” 

“Not so, my good friend,” answered the priest, calmly, “you murdered only eleven. 
The twelfth now stands before you.” Then baring his breast, he said: “See here, on 

3S9 




In this Church, where dwells the hidden God of love, 
The good, and pure, and true die never ; 

On high they reign with God forever ! 


God speed the day when all division in religion shall end ! God speed the hour when 
all men shall be united in this one, enduring fold; when the sceptre of the Roman Catholic 
Church shall be extended benignly over an obedient and rejoicing world; and when all, 
upon being asked, “ What do we believe when we say, I believe the holy Catholic Church?” 
will unanimously answer: ‘‘We believe that the holy Catholic Church alone is the true 
Church of Christ ; that she is infallible in her teaching, and endless in her duration ; and 
that out of the Catholic Church there is no salvation! ” 


my breast, the marks of your fury! See here the scars that your hand has made! God 
has preserved my life, that I might save your soul.” With these words the priest threw 
his arms around the neck of the dying murderer, and, with tears in his eyes, conjured 
him, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, to have pity on his poor soul, and make his 
peace with God. 

Such is the Catholic priest. I tell the truth when I say that he is indeed an angel 
of God, with the heart of a man; and this angel of the Lord is found in the Roman 
Catholic Church alone. 

O glorious Church of Rome ! whence Peter will forever strengthen his brethren ! In 
thee there is neither Greek, nor Barbarian, nor Scythian, nor Jew, nor Gentile; in thy 
bosom all are as one people. Thou art the mighty tree which has been planted by the 
hand of Jesus Christ. Every branch which is separated from that tree fades, withers, 
dies, and is thrown into the fire. Thou art a most tender mother. Whence is it that 
thy divine authority should give such vain offence to so many unnatural children, make 
them rise up against thee, and see in thee but a stepmother? Thou art the great city 
of refuge. In thee alone are found true comfort, strength, and peace of heart. Out of 
thee there is nothing but anguish and black despair. 


Death 


Judgment 


Purgatory 


Heaven 


Hell 


BY 

RIGHT REV. LOUIS DE GOESBRIAND, D. D. 
391 













Circumstances of Death- 


We all must Die— Uncertainty of the Time and 

What it is to Die. 


daughter of a certain ruler. This miracle was performed at 
Capharnaum, and the subject of it was a young child. At Naim, 
at the foot of Mount Thabor, our Saviour had raised to life a 
young man, the son of a widow, and at Bethany, near Jerusalem, 
Lazarus, a man of middle age, who had been dead four days, 
came out of the grave at His voice, full of life. These facts, 
whilst they show forth the infinite power of Jesus Christ, remind us 
also that all the children of Adam are condemned to die in every 
country and that they are liable to die at any age. 

We read in 


Isaias, chapter 38 , that Ezechias, king of Israel, 
fell sick even unto death and that the prophet was sent to him 
with this message: “ Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die and not live.” This 
message we also bring to you in the name of your Creator. We come to speak to you 
about death, to tell you to prepare for death. We know that the thought of death is 
unpleasant; we like to discard it, for it is always accompanied with sadness. Is it not 
sad to think that we shall soon have to bid farewell to this world, to all that is dear to 
us in it, to our very body? Is it not sad for us to know that our very name will soon 
be forgotten? Is it not sad to think that ere a hundred years shall have passed away 
we all shall have disappeared from this earth ? Then after death will follow judgment 
and eternity, and if we died in mortal sin our lot will be death with the demons, in the 
eternal fire of hell. All this is sad and dreadful, yet all this is true; and since we muse 
die and be judged, since we can die only once, we ought to prepare to die well: ‘‘Take 
order with thy house, for thou shalt die and not live.” 

We must die. One of the most striking ceremonies of the Church is that on Ash 
Wednesday, when the priest is directed to bless ashes and put them on the foreheads of 

dust thou art and into dust thou shalt return.” 


the people, saying: Remember, man, that 
It was Adam, the first man, who first-hgard pronounced against him this terrible sentence. 
Had he not sinned he would. ^ojdd«tve jd£ed; but no sooner had he revolted against his 
Creator, than in punis^rrnem ^ If^prid^^^j^SjCoade 111116 ^ to return to the dust 
wherefrom his body l$|dbeen formetb Adan^. 1 io^^^^%rfed a long time on earth after 






his sin. He lived nine hundred and thirty years. But after that he died. Seth, one of 
his sons, lived nine hundred and twelve years, but he also died. Enos, one of his grand- 
sons, lived nine hundred and five years, but he also died. We find another of the 
descendants of Adam who lived to be older yet. Methusela lived nearly one thousand 
years, but he died also, and so it was with all the offspring of Adam. Death was the 
end of them all, men and women, rich and poor, learned and ignorant. The decree has 
come out of the mouth of God our Creator: “Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt 
return.” . . . “ It is appointed unto men once to die.” Death must come and it comes 
in haste. It attacked each one of us at the very moment of our conception in the womb 
of our mother. Each moment that passes gives it a new hold upon us. Other business 
may be interrupted or stopped altogether but this work of death goes steadily on; it 
goes on in the day and in the night, in joy and in sorrow. Each breath we draw is 
another step towards the grave. 

Look around you, and what do you see but almost innumerable evidences of this 
truth? Everywhere, in towns and in country, you see those abodes of the dead which 
we call grave-yards. The earth is full of the bones of dead persons or animals. The 
houses in which you live were perhaps built by men who are dead. The name you bear 
is the name of one who is no more. The blood which circulates in your veins is the 
blood of a father and a mother who are gone. The clothes you wear are made of the 
skin or the spoils of dead animals ; your very tables are loaded with the flesh of animals 
which were slaughtered in order to sustain your existence. Our very bodies, composed 
of flesh and bones as they are, subject to various infirmities, to the necessity of eating 
and drinking and sleeping, our bodies affected by heat and cold, undergoing every day 
some changes for the worse, our bodies admonish us that we must die. Oh, how true it 
is, then, that we are dust and that we shall return into dust! “God has counted my 
days which cannot be passed.” “The ax is laid to the root of the tree.” Listen seriously 
to the admonition of the Holy Ghost: “Take order with thy house, because thou 
shalt die and not live.” 

Uncertainty of the moment and circumstances of death. When we speak to sinners 
about death, they answer: “I don’t want to hear of that now. When we tell the old man 
who must soon die that he should prepare to appear before God, he answers us that he 
does not intend to die yet; that he still feels quite strong. Speak of conversion to the 
young profligate, and he answers: I am young, I shall probably live many years longer, 
I have time enough. Ah, how many poor sinners there are who held that language 
when they were in the world, but death came on them suddenly, they were not 
prepared to meet it, and now they are burning in the eternal fire of hell! Listen, then, to 
our advice: “Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die and not live.” The time of 
death is uncertain. You may live many years yet, but it is more probable that you will 
die soon. You may die a natural death, or you may die by an accident. You may die 
by fire, you may be drowned, you may be killed by the fall of a tree or of a house. You 
may be the first victim of the epidemic which will perhaps soon visit your neighborhood. 

394 















Your life is in the hands of God. He has fixed limits to it which you cannot pass and He 
alone knows the number of your days. So the moment of your death is uncertain. 

In the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, 
and all at once the whole earth was deluged with water and all men except Noah and his 
family were swept into eternity. 

Sodom and Gomorrah were in their blind madness indulging in sins against nature, 
horrible crimes of impurity, when torrents of fire rained down from heaven and destroyed 
the guilty cities with their inhabitants. 

Listen to the following words of our Saviour: “The land of a certain rich man 
man brought forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself, saying: What shall 
I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said: This will I do: I 
will pull down my barns and will build greater, and into them will I gather all things that 
are grown to me. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for 
many years; take thy rest, eat, drink, make good cheer. But God said to him: Thou 
fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee, and whose shall those things be which 
thou hast provided ” (Luke 12 : 16-20). 

Have you not often heard of some young man who entered the army as a volunteer; 
who thought of acquiring distinction as a brave soldier or good officer but was killed in 
the first engagement with the enemy? Or of some young lady engaged to be married? 
The event was to come off on such a day, but she went riding, was thrown out of the 
carriage, and killed; or on such a railroad there was a collision; or the cars ran off the 
track, and a number of persons lost their lives! Oh, how true are the words of our 
Saviour: “Watch ye therefore, because ye know not at what hour your Lord will come!” 
Let us, then, set order to the house of our conscience. 

But sinners say: At the hour of death, when I shall be lying sick in bed, I will turn 
to God and prepare for eternity. But who gives you the assurance that you will die of 
sickness? How do you know that you will not die by accident? Let me suppose, 
however, that vou will be sick two or three days, nay, two or three weeks, before your 
death, what will be the nature of your sickness? Will it permit you to think of your 
soul, w r ill it not interfere with the state of your mind? Oh ! how many there are amongst 
the sick, whose mind is so affected, so much taken up with the pains of the body, that 
they can give no attention to any serious subject! We will suppose, however, that you 
have the use of your mental faculties; are you sure that you will seriously prepare to die? 
Ah, do not deceive yourself. He who writes this has for a great many years attended 
dving persons. He has invariably noticed that they do not really perceive and appreciate 
their condition. Every one about them knows that death is at hand; preparations are 
already being made for the funeral; the bell may be tolling the death knell; the sick 
man continues to flatter himself that he will recover. Oh! how true are the words of 
our Saviour: “ At what hour you know not the Son of man will come." 

You say: I will prepare to die when I am sick. But pray, where will you be taken 
sick? It may be far from your friends, far from any church; you may be at that time 


? / 



VI 



amongst the enemies of your religion, who will not send for a priest to assist you. If a 
priest is sent after, perhaps he will not be found, or will not be able to come to you. If he 
comes, will you be conscious when he arrives? 

But here is another more important question. If you have made a bad use of your 
life, rejected the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, the entreaties of your pastors and 
parents; if you have lived in the habit of crime, will you be willing to turn to God with 
all your heart? 

You will probably send for a priest, you will perhaps recite an act of sorrow for your 
sins, you will confess them; nay, you may receive all the rites of the Church, but of 
what service will they be to you if your sorrow is not entire and sincere before God? 
Listen to this terrible warning, and prepare now to die whilst you have time : 

“Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was none 
that regarded. You have despised all my counsel and have neglected my reprehensions. 

I also will laugh in your destruction and will mock, when that shall come to you which 
you feared. When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest 
shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you: then shall they 
call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning, and shall not find me '* 
|>(Prov. i : 24-28). 

So we all see that the moment of death is uncertain; that we know nothing of tl 
lanner, of the circumstances of our death. Now is the time for us to prepare. Froni^- 
this very moment we should always keep ourselves prepared to die. “Take order with 
thy house, for thou shalt die and not live.” 

What it is to die. Death is the separation of the soul from the body. When the 
soul has left the body, its life is gone. The dead man has ended his career on earth. For 
him everything earthly is gone. He is for the rest of men as if he had never lived. Let 
us see what are the consequences of death. 

Let us enter a house where a piece of black crape or black draperies indicate that a 
person lies dead there. Sadness and terror are depicted upon the features of all. In a 
-room apart, two or three persons whisper together; the father, the mother, the child, 
weep bitterly or run through the house like maniacs. Where is the corpse? What 
does it look like? Remove the sheet which covers it, and see how you yourself will be 
after a short time. The hair is disordered; the whole body is covered with a cold sweat; 
the face is pale; the lips are dark; the mouth is half open; the tongue stiff and cold; the 
eyes are sunk and covered with a thick scum; all the limbs are stiff, putrefaction is at 
work. All this we find in all dead persons. 

Let us go to the house of a drunkard who is dead. Yesterday, as usual, he left the 
rum-shop in a state of drunkenness. He had blasphemed and quarreled and fought 
there. On his way home he was stabbed, or he fell into the river and was drowned. , 
There he lies in his filthy clothes. There on a shelf you see the whisky flask, which he 
used to carry during the day and keep under his pillow during the night. No tear is shed 
for him. The place is deserted. Perhaps some of his boon companions will drop in 

396 




V 


Vj 


v. 












>v : 


| I A 

K$fJ{‘ 


about night, and to honor his memory they will spend the time in drinking and blas- 
pheming. The remains of the wretch will be buried by the poor-master in some 
unhallowed spot, for he died in sin: the Church refuses to give him the benefit of her 
prayers, and will not permit him to be buried in consecrated ground. 

See what consternation prevails in the next house! Behold the body of a young 
girl who has just expired. Only a few days ago she was in the full bloom of life. She 
used to be present at all the dances and parties, she was a frequenter of the theatre. She 
is dead. Scattered now in confusion in her apartments you may see the fine dresses and 
jewels she used to wear. Behold the large mirror before which he spent so much time! 
There on the table some of the novels which corrupted her mind and heart! Come, take 
a look at the corpse ! See what has become of her beauty ! Look at that head, yesterday 
so well combed, perfumed, and dressed! Can it be she? Ah! no one now admires her 
beauty; that is gone, and the work of death is such that hardly any one has courage to 
look at the distressing object; that tongue which spoke light words is now cold and stiff; 
the hand is also stiff, that hand whose beautiful proportions she used to admire. The 
light, proud form lies prostrated, the body will soon be decomposed; all the pleasures, 
all the vanities of the world are gone forever. Would to God that her soul had gone in 
peace ! 

Let us now go to the house of a rich man who has just died. He was born in an 
humble condition in life, and received in his youth a good Christian education. But 
he abandoned too soon the practice of religion; he entered commercial life, made some 
money, and went into business for himself. He was prosperous in his business: men 
praised him; he helped the Church, performed some exterior acts of religion, showed 
respect for the Clergy. But what can a man do for his soul without worthily receiving 
the sacraments? They spoke of him as a very temperate man, but few persons were 
well acquainted with his nightly excesses ; they say he was most upright in his dealings, 
and yet his fortune was the result of injustices committed during a long period of time 
and cunningly concealed from the eyes of men. He raised a family of children and they 
were well clad and well fed, but he took no care of their Christian education. They were 
sent to Protestant schools, they now attend Protestant meeting-houses. They are 
ashamed of the doctrines and practices of the Catholic religion; they will not speak to 
their own relations who are Catholics. They were baptized, that is all. They have no 
thought of heaven, no fear of their Creator, but with all that their guilty father was 
unconcerned. He fitted them for this world and he was satisfied. And now he is dead. 
Alas! he received his reward upon earth. He is dead; his money, his friends, could not 
ward off the stroke of death. In the room where he died you see the safe which contains 
the deeds of his lands, his treasures of gold and silver; his house is a magnificent one, 
enriched, embellished with fine carpets, precious paintings, splendid furniture; the 
grounds and gardens around it are large and laid out with great taste ; the land around 
the estate extends as far as the eye can reach; but what are these to him now? He is 
dead. 




W\ 






Let us go to the grave-yard; let us witness the last scene. Some men have dug a 
hole in the ground. This work did not occupy much time, for this new kind of dwelling 
needs to be only about two feet wide, seven or eight feet long, and about five feet in depth. 
Stand by this place. The corpse has been removed from the house; some of the relations 
and friends accompany the remains to the grave-yard. Some of these are sincerely 
afflicted; others would make it appear that they are equally sad; some talk about his 
will, the probable heirs of his property ; there is hardly one in the procession who prays 
for the soul of the deceased. We shall soon see the end. The coffin is taken out of the 
hearse, it is lowered into the grave. Listen to the dull sound of the earth as it falls upon 
it. The grave is now filled up level with the surface. Where is the dead man? what 
has become of him? I fancy I hear a voice from that grave saying: “Behold, now I 
shall sleep in the dust. My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the 
weaver, and are consumed without any hope.” 

But what of the soul? If it was in the grace of God when it left the body, that soul, 
that blessed soul is now in the glory of heaven or will surely reach it. 

If it was in the state of mortal sin when it appeared before the Judge, alas! it is now 
in the eternal flames of hell. 

Ah, it is vanity to look after pleasures, honors, and wealth ! It is foolishness to set 
our affections upon things of earth which pass away so rapidly. It is blindness to 
pamper the body which returns into dust, and to forget the soul which dieth not ! It is a 
crime not to love and serve our God, Our Maker, before Whom we must soon stand to 
give Him an account of all our life ! 

O Jesus! our companion, our food, our victim on the altar! Blessed are they who 
dwell in Thy house: they shall praise Thee forever and ever. Thou art our way, our 
truth, our life. Thy sacrifice of the Mass brings peace to men, enables them to escape 
eternal damnation, and to be numbered in the flock of Thy elect, and Thy sacred Body 
and Blood entitle the worthy communicant to life everlasting! Grant us, we beseech 
Thee, through the intercession of Thy holy Mother, of all the saints, of all the angels who 
stand around Thy altar, so to venerate the mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we 
may ever feel within us the fruit of Thy redemption ! 



398 






J cidgment. 



J? 



The End of the World— The General Judgment. 

' 7 ' ^L this wor ld come to an end? Will there be a general 
■’ judgment? These are questions of the very highest import- 
f i ance. If this world is to pass, to be destroyed by fire, it 

is a great folly to love it, or anything that it contains. If 
Jesus Christ will come down from heaven to ask us an ac- 
count of all our life, in presence of all mankind ; if He will 
reward the just into life everlasting and condemn the wicked 
to the eternal fire of hell, he must be deprived of reason who 
does not, now, immediately, and seriously, prepare for the 
day of judgment. 

Now we say: As truly as there is a God in heaven, as truly 
as we live on earth, so true it is that this world will be de- 
stroyed, so true it is that the Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven to judge all 
mankind. 

With regard to the consummation of the world, the apostles believed it and asked 
their Master when it would take place; and He, the God of truth, told them of the signs 
which would precede this great event. He it was who said: “Heaven and earth shall 
pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” The Church teaches that this world 
will pass. We read in the Mass for the dead: “He will destroy the world by fire;” 
solvet sccclum in favilla. Then why should this world last forever? It was made and 
preserved for the use of men : it is, as it were, our battle-field on which we have to fight 
against ourselves and the devils in order to conquer heaven; and therefore when the 
number of men decreed to live on it shall be exhausted, it is right to infer that the world 
itself shall pass away. 

There will be also the great accounting day, the general judgment. Of this day we 
read in the Creed of St. Athanasius: “Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, sitteth at the 
right hand of God Almighty, whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead ; at 
whose advent all men shall have to rise in their bodies, and to give account of their own 
works. And they who have done good works shall go into life everlasting; and they 
who shall have done evil works shall go into eternal fire.” Our Lord Jesus Christ 
Himself taught this doctrine to the apostles, and we profess to believe after them, with 
all the Catholics of the world, that Jesus Christ shall come from heaven to judge the 
living and the dead. There will certainly be a general judgment at the end of the world. 

399 


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When will the end of the world occur? According to the doctrine of the Gospel, 
the following events will occur before the last consummation : The Gospel shall first be 
preached to the whole world for a testimony to all nations (Matt. 24: 14). The Jews 
also, so long opposed to Christ Jesus, will at last be converted to Him. St. Paul tells 
us that a revolt must come first — that is to say, a great secession from the Church must 
take place — before the last day (II Thess. 2: 3). In those days also shall appear Anti- 
christ, a man of wickedness, called by the Scripture “the man of sin,” “the wicked one,” 
“the son of perdition.” His coming will be according to the working of Satan, in all 
power and signs and lying wonders, and in all seduction of iniquity (II Thess. 2: 9, 10). 
He will use his cunning to deceive men, and many will adhere to him; he will use his 
power to persecute the Church, and his persecution will be of all the most bloody. “Who 
opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he 
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God.” His reign, however, 
will be of short duration. In order to counteract the cunning and cruelty of Antichrist, 
God will raise to Himself two witnesses, Enoch and Elias. They will oppose the arch- 
enemy of Christ, and labor for the conversion of the Jews and the perseverance of the 
just. Antichrist will put to death the two messengers of God; but he himself will be 
killed by the spirit of the mouth of Jesus Christ: he will be destroyed by the brightness 
of His coming (II Thess. 2: 8). 

There will be other signs that will precede the destruction of the world and the last 
advent of our Saviour. “And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars” (Matt. 24); 
torrents of human blood will be shed: “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom 
against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences and famines and earthquakes in places” 
(Matt. 24: 7); “there shall be terrors from heaven, and great signs” (Luke 21 : 11). 

Many of the events here announced have occurred, but how far they are connected 
with the final consummation we do not know. 

The time which separates us from the consummation is and will continue to be a 
mystery. “The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night; for when they 
shall say peace and security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains 
upon her that is with child” (I Thess. 5: 2, 3). Such was the language of St. Paul, who 
had been taught of Jesus Christ; and the Lord Himself had said before him: “As 
lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west, so shall the coming 
of the Son of man be. ... Of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the angels 
of heaven, but the Father alone. And as in the days of Noah, so shall the coming of 
the Son of man be; for as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, 
marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noah entered into the ark, 
and they knew not till the flood came and took them all away, so also shall the coming 
of the Son of man be” (St. Matt. 24: 27, 36-39). 

The Son of God in the Gospel mentions some signs which will probably precede 
more immediately the end of the world and the final judgment: “The sun shall be 
darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the 

400 








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ind we^p-ac^ajso': 

and in the moon, and in the sta^^a^djapon th^, 
the confusion of the roaring of the^Ss&^SSd of the_js^aves ; men withering away for fear 
and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world; for the powers of heaven 
shall be moved” (Luke 21 : 25). 

It is probable that after those wonderful signs, after the earthquakes, the darkness, 
after the utter confusion of the elements, calm again will be restored, and men again will 
forget all the warnings and continue to offend their Creator. 

At last the end has come. Listen! At a distance is heard an unknown, terrifying 
sound. It is not the roaring of the sea and of the waves, nor the rumbling which accom- 
panies an earthquake. The sound becomes louder and louder, more and more terrifying. 
As the sound draws nearer, the air is filled with fire and brimstone. It is the last storm, 
the storm of the anger of God; in its passage it destroys all men, and with them all the 
works of their hands. The earth and the works that are in it are burnt up. The elements 
melt with the burning heat; the heavens, being on fire, are dissolved and pass away with 
great violence (II Peter 3). 

Such, according to the sacred writers, will be the end of this world which we inhabit. 
Woe to us who have made a bad use of it, by loving some of the objects which it contains 
more than the Creator! For if the Almighty will thus show His anger against the earth, 
the theatre of our sins, will He not punish more severely those who have voluntarily 
abused all His blessings, particularly the gifts of intelligence and of life? 

We will now speak of the resurrection and the judgment. The world has been 
consumed by fire: will it remain a confused mass of ashes, buried in darkness, or will 
it be renewed before the resurrection of the dead ? On this point the Scripture is silent ; 
neither do we know for certain the place of the general judgment. But the dead shall 
rise; all the dead shall rise; all the dead shall be judged. The prophet Ezechiel was 
taken up in spirit into a vast plain, where he witnessed a wonderful scene. The plain 
was covered with bones, and they were very dry. God commanded him to speak to 
them; he spoke, and behold, there is a commotion amongst the dry bones; they unite 
one to another, sinews grow over the bones, and afterwards flesh, and skin is extended 
over them. Another command is given, and behold, the Spirit cometh and giveth life 
to these dead, and they stand on their feet a great army. This resurrection of one nation, 
terrifying as it must have appeared to the prophet, was but a faint idea of the general 
resurrection to occur on the last day. Generations after generations for thousands of 
years have appeared in the world and passed away from it. Their bones lay scattered 
in the graves, in the seas, on the mountains and valleys, and now the day of the harvest 



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ime to tlie-j 

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Almighty God sends His 
shall sound: “Arise, ye 



et and loud voice; for the trumpet 
!” Anri the dead shall arise. In a 






moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the sea gives up her dead, the earth opens and out 
of it comp.the human remains which it contained; ^souls come from hell, from heaven , ^ 
jatory: each re-enters the body which it Occupied' on earth. All men died||| 
re, now restored to life/ They have risen fro^ijifie dead; but henceforth they^ 

'ohy what f Si difference between the elect and the reprobate! The just have 
ith a body which is glorious, impassible. I fancy I behold the 


,,, /depicted in their countenance, with a glorious aureole adorrttjj^ 
have risen prepared to participate in the nuptials of the Son of Goff/ Nc 


from 


wit 


these are the meek and humble of heart, the merciful, the pure of heart a___ 
who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, who during their lives aypomp 

the will of their Creator. 

/ ' 

^ '#// What of thd reprobate? They are also changed, but what a change! They hav 
% Xisen for judgment and condemnation. How could it be otherwise? Amongst the 
Reprobate I see none but the proud, the unjust, adulterers and fornicators, the intem- 
perate, the unmerciful, the haters of their .brethren — all those, in a word, who like 
Lucifer revolted against their God, and abused the life which He granted to them; and 
now they are risen, now they shall be judged. Who can describe the anguish of their 
souls? Eternity will also soon begin for the soul and the body of the reprobate. 

Let us proceed. The end will soon come. A strange brightness appears in the 
heavens. Its splendor has dispelled the darkness and lights up the scene of the judgment. 

For the just never did the sun rise so beautiful; for the wicked never did any sight 
appear so appalling. But this light is not the rising of the sun; no, the sun shall rise 
no more. This light is the sign of the Son of man; it is the glorious cross of Jesus 
Christ. And now the heavens open. Out of it proceed an innumerable multitude; 
they are the angels of God, the millions of heavenly spirits who compose His court, 
the millions of blessed angels sent to welcome the elect or to cast away the wicked from 
the face of God. In the middle of these bright spirits appears their King and ours, 
Jesus Christ, coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty. He has 
come to judge all men, He who created them, He who redeemed them with His blood. 

The Judge is seated on His tribunal; the judgment will soon begin. 

This is the day which the Church calls the dreadful day, the great and bitter day; 
the day whose remembrance alone causes the just themselves to tremble. Behold the 
reprobate in presence of the saints, of the angels! They cannot bear the sight of their 
own bodies. But what are their feelings in the presence of the Judge? I fancy I see 
them trying to hide from the face of Jesus Christ. Ah, why has He cdfrri^'we ea 
^>ear the sight oLjfim who was once so kind but is now so dreadful! Oh, 

€he sight of the cr^b'/Oh, that mountains should fall upon us, that hills should||^^|^ 
us from the face dSrTIim who sitteth upon the throne, and from the face of the 
Lamb! For the great day of their wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? 
(Apoc. 6: 1 6 , 17). 


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Alas! it is too late now. The angels of God are at work, and they work with the 
power of God. With the velocity of the lightning God’s messengers have swept the 
reprobate to the left side of the Saviour; with equal velocity the guardian angels have 
placed the elect to the right of the Redeemer. The books are now opened. 

O you elect, lift up your heads and rejoice; fear not the judgment of Christ. Behold, 
the poor whom you helped are around you to defend you; behold near you your good 
angels who presented to God your prayers and good works. The sins which you com- 
mitted have been forgiven. You confessed them with sorrow; God will not make thorn 
known to the world; but all your good works will be published before mankind, and 
on this day there will arise to bless and glorify you the many souls which you sanctified 
by word and example. “ Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is very great! ” 

As to the reprobate, at the sight of the elect they are troubled with terrible fear. 
Alas ! their guardian angels have no good works to present in their favor. They did not 
help the poor, and they will now be judged by the Friend of the poor. They offered no 
prayers, no adoration, to their God; they shed no tears for their sins, performed no 
penance for their crimes ; during their long lives they neither loved nor obeyed God their 
Creator, Jesus Christ their Redeemer. “The Lord will bring to light the hidden things 
of darkness” (I Cor. 4: 5). “I will discover thy shame to thy face, and will show thy 
nakedness to the nations, and thy shame to kingdoms” (Nah. 3: 5). With adulterers 
they have been partakers. “Thy mouth hath abounded with evil, and thy tongue 
framed deceits” (Ps. 49: 19). They used to blaspheme the name of their Creator, to 
eat and drink to scandalous excess ; they scandalized the young and destroyed the souls 
of their own children. Think not, unfortunate beings, that you can deceive the Judge! 
Behold near you the witnesses of your scandals, and the demons who claim you as their 
prey. For you there is now no advocate to be found. Time is now past, past 
forever. 

Listen to the words of Jesus Christ Himself: “ Then shall the King say to them that 
shall be on his right hand : Come ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; 
I was thirsty and you gave Me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; naked, 
and you covered Me; sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. 

As long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me. Then 
He shall say to them also that shall be on His left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, 
into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, 
and you gave Me not to eat. . . . Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to 

one of these least, neither did you do it to Me. And these shall go into everlasting 
punishment; but the just into life everlasting” (Matt. 25: 34-36). 

Such is the truthful history of the end of the world, of the judgment, of the beginning 
of eternity. Let us now at least in spirit kneel before the tabernacle and say: “ I firmly 
believe that Jesus Christ, the Sovereign Judge, is present under the appearances of 
bread; through love of men He has shecJFLis^ blood, and here, in this holy church, I find 



I 






where He 


1 Jy my prayers 

C .. ^*£eedetfl rhy soul ufrto iff e^ef 1 aljthvg^aTfd here is the altar where He offers Himself even ty- 
aay as a-victim of thanksgiving antf Jahogitiatjaii . Pardon, 0 Lord, all my negligences 
WX' \ towards the mystery of Thy Body (alter Blpdtj^t^ant that I may ever love Thee, that 
N I may often unite myself to Thee in Thy l^jra&ffrent, and then I will fear neither death* 
)nor judgment. Remember, O merciful Jeslasyrhat I was the cause of Thy sufferings; 
J vy # ; do not cast me off on that day!” 



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Praying for the Dead Practised under the Old Law and under the New — 
Sufferings of Souls in Purgatory— St. Leonard of Port Maurice— What 
the Church Does to Alleviate the Sufferings of the Souls in Purgatory. 

N setting apart one day in honor of all the saints, and another 
as a day of earnest prayer for the repose of all the departed, the 
Church shows herself to be really the mother of the faithful, who 
forgets none of her departed children, as she forgets none of 
those who are now living. 

Those amongst the faithful who truly love their Creator 
comply cheerfully with the desire of the Church, for they feel 
compassion towards the suffering souls and they are consoled in 
praying for those whom they loved whilst they were on earth. 
These have been at all times the sentiments of the true children 
of God. Amongst the Jews, who were His true people before 
the days of Christ, it was customary to perform acts of atonement 
for the dead, to pray for their souls, to place food on their graves, so that the poor after 
partaking of it would not forget to pray for those whose remains lay in their graves 
A beautiful instance of the devotion towards the departed souls which existed amongst 
the Jews is found in the following passage of the Second Book of Machabees, chapter 12. 

After an engagement in which the celebrated Judas Machabeus overcame his enemies, 
but in which some of his own soldiers perished, because they had disobeyed the law of 
Moses, though in a matter of slight importance, this “most valiant Judas, making a 
gathering, sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem, for sacrifice to be 
offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection 
(for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should rise again, it would have seemed 
superfluous and vain to pray for the dead), and because he considered that they who 
had fallen asleep with godliness had great grace laid up for them. It is therefore a holy 
and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” With 
regard to the action just related, we should remember that Judas Machabeus, besides 
being a valiant soldier sent by Almighty God to defend His chosen people, was also the 
high priest of his nation, and consequently well acquainted with the doctrines of his 
people; that the sum gathered for the sacrifices was collected amongst the men of his 

40S 




army, and that this offering for sacrifices was made 
had of the slight transgression committed by 




Pray for me, at lea: 

Since the time of the apostles^djhe^practice of praying for the dead has been con- 


tinued among the children of the tT^jgyChurch. Listen to a touching example of th 
said practice. St. Monica when dying addressed both her sons, Augustine and Navigius, 
who were standing by her bed: “ Be not uneasy about my body, for it is of little conse- 
quence where it is to be interred; the only request I make is that you remember me at 
the altar of God, wherever you may be.” After the death of his mother, St. Augustine 
was careful to comply with her dying request. He offered up fervent prayers for the 
repose of her soul and procured the prayers of others for the same intention. Nothing 
can be more touching, or better calculated to inspire us with a salutary fear of the rigor 
of God’s justice, than the pious tears and the fervent supplications he addressed to the 
Lord for the eternal rest of the soul of his holy mother, and that at a time when there 
was every reason to believe that she had been long since in the enjoyment of the rewards 
of the saints. Here are his own words: “ The tears which I to-day shed for my mother, 
0 my God, are very different from those shed through grief for having lost her. They 
flow from the dread with which I am seized when I consider how much reason we have 
to fear for all those who die after having been made partakers of the sin of Adam ; for 
although my mother had been vivified in Jesus Christ, and although during her stay 
on this earth her morals had been so pure, and her faith so lively as to afford a subject 
for blessing Thy Holy Name, yet I cannot be assured that she had not committed some 
act which may be a violation of Thy sacred law. Unhappy are even those who have 
spent more regular lives, if Thou comest to judge them without mercy! For the sins 
of my mother I pour forth my prayers to Thee. Pardon, O Lord, whatever sins she 
may have committed against Thee. Enter not into judgment with her, for Thou hast 
promised to be merciful to those who show mercy.” 

It would be easy to demonstrate that the Church has always prayed for the souls 
of the departed, and that there is a middle state of souls suffering for a time on account 
of their sins; but the Christians of our days have no need of those demonstrations. We 
believe in the existence of purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by 
^L^Vhe suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar 
^(Council of Trent, sess. 25). 

Those souls go to purgatory which depart from this worldybeing guilty of venial 
sins, or not having entirely atoned for past transgressions ; fp|Jffothing defiled can enter 
the heavenly Jerusalem, and these poor souls will in this c&se be^saved, but it must be 
by fire. From this it follows that the number of souls whesm^&^be purified in purgatory 
is very great indeed, for many die guilty of venial smSmoM^given, and many, alas! die 
without having performed a penance proportional From the said principle 
it is evident also that there exists a grea^JjJff^^^J^the condition of those poor 

















prisoners, some having to undergo lighter punishments, and of shorter duration, than 
others who may have committed a greater number of sins, or sins of a darker kind. It 
is equally clear that when any soul leaves her mortal body, no one of us can tell what 
its condition is in the next world. That soul may have been admitted into the presence 
of God in heaven ; it may have been condemned to suffer for a long time or a short time 
in purgatory; it may perhaps have been condemned to the fire of hell. 

In order to understand our duty towards the departed souls, let us consider that 
in purgatory there is: 

The punishment of fire. This is the constant opinion of the Church. Some of the 
saints of God tell us that the torments of purgatory are not inferior to those of hell, 
except in duration — those of hell have no end, but those of purgatory are but for a time ; 
that the fire of purgatory is the same as that of hell, created to cause pain and torture; 
that our earthly fire is as painted fire compared to it, and that all the evils of this world, 
and all the sufferings and torments of the martyrs, fall far below the pains endured in 
purgatory. St. Thomas of Aquinas has said that the least pain of purgatory is not only 
greater than any of the pains of earth, but greater than all the pains of earth put together. 
See, then, what you must suffer hereafter for sins which you now think so little about — 
lying, quarreling, backbiting, sloth, impatience, etc. 

There is in purgatory a punishment far more to be dreaded than the punishment of 
fire, and this is the loss of God. The souls which are detained there are deprived for a 
time of the sight of God, of His possession. They are deprived of the possession of God 
Himself, the source and plenitude of all good: they cannot see Him whom they have a 
right to possess in virtue of the merits of Christ. They have a clear knowledge of his 
beauty; their love of Him is greater than any love on earth. Who, then, can understand 
how ardently they desire to possess Him, and how much they suffer in being repelled 
by Him ? Love, which is in heaven the happiness of the elect, is in purgatory the torment 
of these suffering souls, for everything has now disappeared which interfered with the 
exercise of that love. 

When we recite the Office of the Dead, we think that we hear the lamentations of 
those poor souls drawn towards God by the ardor of their love, and repelled by Him as 
being yet unworthy to possess Him. Sometimes it is to Himself that they address 
themselves: “As the heart panteth after the fountains of waters, so my soul panteth 
after Thee, O God” (Ps. 41: 2). “Lord, where are Thy ancient mercies?” (Ps. 88: 50). 
“I cry to Thee, and Thou hearest me not: I stand up, and Thou dost not regard me. 
Thou art changed in my regard to be cruel, and with a hard hand Thou opposest Thyself 
against me” (Job 30: 20, 21). Sometimes they lament for the length of their exile: 
“Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged” (Ps. 119: 5). “When shall I come and 
appear before the face of God?” (Ps. 41 : 3). Oftentimes it is to themselves that they 
address bitter reproaches: “0 thou foolish soul, where is thy God?” Why dost not 
thou enjoy His felicity? Had I been a little more watchful, a little more mortified, I 
should have escaped this awful calamity. Oh, how dearly I have to suffer for my sloth 




and sensuality ! I have on this account to be now deprived of the presence of God! 
Since the souls detained in purgatory are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, 
but principally by the acceptable Sacrifice of the Altar, it is evident that it is our duty as 
Christians to apply ourselves to assist them. All the souls in purgatory are united to 
us by the common ties of faith, hope, and charity; we are therefore to be charitable 
towards them, to do to them what we should like to be done for us if we were in their 
place. Those poor souls are the poorest, the most afflicted, of those who suffer, for they 
are deprived of the presence of God, they have to undergo the punishment of fire. What 
prayer will move your heart, if their lamentations do not move it? “ Have pity on me, 
have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.” 

But amongst those suffering souls there are some who were more closely related to you. 
Amongst those souls there are many who suffer because you neglected to correct or to 
instruct them; amongst them there are many whom you positively induced to commit 
sin; with regard to these souls, you are obliged to help them, not merely through charity, 
but on the ground of just reparation. 

St. Leonard of Port Maurice, a great missionary who died about a hundred years 
ago, speaking on purgatory, with a view to obtain offerings and prayers in behalf of the 
departed souls, uttered the following appeal: “Oh, that I could cause those blessed souls 
to appear before you around this church, in order to excite your commiseration in their 
behalf; at least represent them to yourselves such as they sometimes appeared, all 
wrapped up in flames, sorrowful and mourning, emitting fire through their eyes and 
mouth, devoured by an internal fire! Who of you could refrain from tears in listening to 
their complaint? They turn towards you and exclaim: We apply to you, ungrate- 
ful fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, relations and 
friends — to you who for the sake of a vile pleasure forget us in our torments. Ah, 
remember that we are in a place where one has to atone terribly for even a bad thought 
or an inconsiderate word! We' are plunged in a sea of fire which preserves the victims 
which it torments. Here we suffer beyond measure, and alas! without merit. Here 
there are long dark nights, but no sleep; here there are continual complaints, but no 
consolations; here there are cruel sufferings, but they are fruitless. Apart from this, 
our sorrow is aggravated from the fact that our good angels tell us that you not only 
forget us, but that you are preparing for yourselves a place in hell on account of your 
sinful life. Why do you persecute us even after death, and glut yourselves with our 
flesh, forgetful of what we suffer? (Job 19.) Whose are those houses, those lands, those 
jewels, those riches which you enjoy? Are they not in a manner our substance, the 
fruit of our labors? Why will you not share them with us in our distress? Dear children, 
dear brothers, dear friends, have compassion, have pity on us! 

“Who are they who thus complain? They are they who were most intimately 
connected with you. Take off that tombstone, open their graves! You cannot see 
those suffering souls; do at least look at the miserable remains of their bodies! They 
sometimes appeared in the shape of dry skeletons. Imagine that your father, that your 



^ fc 






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21 ; 









moth^ addrese-ymr^n^l say: “O son, have compassion on us^^How is i£-?h^tjthose 
of father, mother, do not soften your heart? That mother so Swfe^t, 
ten kissed you tenderly, pressed you against her heart, wh^AiQidd joyr 
set you on your way home, who considered you as her dearest treasure — That 
so kind is now in purgatory; she suffers, she laments, she complains; night am 
cries out to you, ‘ My son, my son, have compassion! ’ and you remain hard«Sed\ 
Hajye you the heart of a son ? Listen to the complaints of that father who for you<*«ide 
went so much fatigue. How often he sweated for you, how often he called you his 
son! When he was about to die, he would have you be near him; his last look, the last 
look of that dying father, was at you, who were dearest to his heart. He then implored 
you, ‘ My son, remember your father; ’ he attempted to give you a last kiss, but strength 
failed him and he died. What did you then do? You burst into tears; you pressed to 
your heart that hand now stiff and cold ; you then cried out, ‘O my father, dear father!’ 
and you wept bitterly. Well, he answers you to-day, ‘My son, I, your father, am now 
j\burning in the flames of purgatory; come, help me, have pity on your poor father!’ 
What do you do? Do you act the part of a son, or are you rather a monster of cruelty? 
Snakes have been seen to run amongst burning coals in order to save their young ones 
which had been thrown there; will you not hasten to the help of your poor father or 
mother? will you refuse to stretch your hand to them? will you deny them the alms 
which they ask of you? If so, go home, take down from the walls the portraits of your 
father and mother, make a bonfire of them and let them bum with your parents whose 
images they represent.” 

After this touching appeal of St. Leonard, a collection was taken up in the church 
for Masses to be said for the poor suffering souls ; but as the contributions were not very 
generous, the Saint made this other touching appeal : 

‘‘The things which occur every year in Algiers and Tunis are a true counterpart of 
what passes this day in purgatory. Every year there starts from Spain a vessel named 
redemption vessel, because she brings to Africa the alms contributed by the faithful for 
the redemption of the slaves. She gets into the port, and immediately there come 
together all the slaves, dragging heavy chains fastened to their feet, thinking that the 
hour of their deliverance has come. The chief officer comes up carrying the book iiy 
which all the donations are inscribed ; and all these unfortunates raise up their hands to 
heaven and cry out : ‘ Did my children send money for my redemption ? ’ ‘ Did my 

wife remember me?’ ‘What did my father do to get me free?’ 'Your children are 
well,’ replies the chief; ‘they salute you, but they could not send a sufficient sum of 
money, and told me that by the next voyage they will do their best to have you set at 
liberty, and therefore you must have patience. Your wife is in good health; she feels 
for you, but she is in want herselb^gud^begs that you may have compassion on her. As 

Y ou may now fall into the ranks ; 
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latter cry out sobbing and lamenting: ‘Ah, you heartless, cruel sons, wife, and parents, 
why do you not pawn those jewels, that property, why do you not sell all that there is 
in the house ? Did you but know what we have to suffer ! ’ 

“You who listen to me, you feel moved to compassion; but what is your own case? 
Have you made your offering for the poor souls? Well, at this moment the angel of 
God goes to purgatory to distribute the prayers that have just been offered. Hardly 
has he appeared, than they all gather around him. ‘ Holy angel, was there an offering 
made for me?’ ‘Yes,’ replies the angel, ‘such a one gave for you all that he had. God 
has remitted all: you are free.’ ‘ What of me ?’ asks another. ‘ For you so many Masses 
will be said; your exile will soon be over.’ ‘ What was done for me?’ ‘Your daughter,’ 
replies the angel, ‘has made many sacrifices for you; you also may go out of here.’ To 
another soul the angel says: ‘Such a one has at last resolved to pay up those legacies; 
he has issued orders about the matter, and when this shall have been done, your captivity 
will end.’ ‘ How is it about me? ’ asks another soul. ‘ For the relief of your soul,’ says 
the angel, ‘that relation of yours has forgiven an injury; he has been reconciled to God, 
and your debts are remitted. Those are all the alms and prayers which I have to 
apply.’ ‘Can it be that there are no prayers, no Masses for us?’ ‘Unfortunate souls, 
alas! I have to say it, no offering of prayer was made for you.’ Methinks I hear these 
souls saying to me: ‘But you, reverend Father, did you not tell your hearers that our 
sufferings are excessive, that we shall pray much for them in heaven?’ ‘This I have 
done, but all that I could get from them were a few sobs, a few tears; they made no 
offering.’ ‘Why do they not get the Masses said, why do they not get the legacies paid 
up?’ ‘They answer that they will pray fervently henceforward for the release of your 
souls.’ ’’ 

God grant that the foregoing touching appeal of the great missionary may move 
us all to greater devotion towards the poor suffering souls! If we have neglected to pray 
for them all, but more especially if w r e have neglected to pray for those souls which may 
be suffering on our account, if perchance we have not complied with their last intentions 
about Masses to be said for their repose, we should humbly and fervently ask Almighty 
God to forgive us. Henceforward let us offer for the departed souls not only our prayers, 
but our fasts also, our crosses of all kinds; let us offer for them alms-deeds to the needy, 
but above all let us offer for the repose of their souls our Communions, the indulgences 
which we may gain; and let us have Masses said for them, for this is the most efficacious 
means to obtain their release. 

As soon as the ‘death of a member of the parish becomes known to the pastor, the 
tolling of the bell announces the fact to the community. Holy Mass for the rest of the 
departed should, if possible, be a part of the funeral service. The body of the deceased 
member is buried under the shadow of the cross, the emblem of Jesus Christ, Who died 
for us upon it. According to the spirit and practice of the Church, Mass should be said 
on the third, the eighth, and the thirtieth day following that of the decease. Again, at 
every Mass which is said in the world a special commemoration or prayer is made for the 


departed souls; every year also, in the whole world, this day, the 2nd of November, is set 
apart as a day to remember and to pray for the dead; amongst the duties of the Bishop 
are those of visiting the grave-yards at the time of his visitation, and of seeing that the 
Masses agreed to be said for the dead are regularly and faithfully said according to the 
intention of those who founded the Masses. 

We clearly see, then, from these practices of the Church, that we should not forget 
the Holy Sacrament wdien we intend to help the souls of the departed. It is the church 
bell, the bell of the church, which overshadows the altar, which invites you to pray for 
the dead ; it is in presence of the tabernacle that we address most fervent prayers to our 
Saviour in behalf of the departed: “Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord, and let 
perpetual light shine upon them! Gracious Jesus, O Lord, give them rest. . . . O Lord 
Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains 
of hell and from the deep pit: deliver them from the mouth of the lion, that hell may not 
swallow them up and they may not fall into darkness. . . . Grant them, O Lord, to 
pass from death to that life which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham and to his 
seed” (Missal). When we listen to those fervent supplications of the Church, when we 
see a crowd of desolate friends kneeling around the coffin in front of the altar, or when 
every day for months or years we see widows and children kneeling in sorrowful adoration 
before the Blessed Sacrament, reciting prayers over a grave, or receiving Communion for 
the departed, we cannot but be reminded of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and our divine 
Lord. Lazarus was dead; but our Lord continued to love him. Mary and Martha 
wept, and our Lord wept with them. Our Lord showed His love to His departed friend 
by raising him to life ; but this miracle He performed moved by the prayers and wailings 
of the saintly sisters: and so it is that our divine Lord in the Eucharist is the friend, the 
light and life, of the living and of the dead. 

Pray for the departed souls, and they will pray one day in heaven for you. Have 
Masses said for their souls, and remember, in connection with your own salvation, that 
the good works which you will perform in your lifetime will be of far greater service for 
your soul than many Masses or charities which you would leave to be performed by 
others after your death. 



411 







Heaven. 


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THE Gospel we read, that wishing to give His disciples a glimpse of the 
glory of Paradise, in order to animate them to labor for the divine 
honor, the Redeemer was transfigured and allowed them to behold 
the splendor of His countenance. Ravished with joy and delight, 
St. Peter exclaimed: Lord, it is good for us to be here. Lord, let us__ 
remain here; let us never more depart from this place; for the sight 
of Thy beauty consoles us more than all the delights of the earth. 

Brethren, let us labor during the remainder of our lives to gai 
heaven. Heaven is so great a good, that, to purchase it for us, Jesus 
Christ has sacrificed His life on the cross. Be assured, that the greatest 
of all the torments of the damned in hell arise from the thought o| 
having lost heaven, through their own fault. The blessings, the de 


ights, the joys, the sweetness of paradise may be acquired; but they can be describe' 
and understood only by those blessed souls that enjoy them. But let us, with the aid 
of the holy Scripture, explain the little that can be said of them here below. 

According to the Apostle, no man on this earth can comprehend the infinite blessings 
which God has prepared for the souls that love Him. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love 
Him. In this life we cannot have an idea of any other pleasures than those which we 
enjoy by means of the senses. Perhaps we imagine that the beauty of heaven resembles 
that of a wide extended plain covered with the verdure of spring, interspersed with trees 
in full bloom, and abounding in birds fluttering about and singing on every side ; or, that 
it is like the beauty of a garden full of fruits and flowers, and surrounded by fountains in 
continual play. “Oh! what a Paradise,” to behold such a plain, or such a garden! But 
oh how much greater are the beauties of heaven ! Speaking of paradise, St. Bernard says : 
O man, if you wish to understand the blessings of heaven, know that in that happy 
country there is nothing which can be disagreeable and everything that you can 
desire. Although there are some things here below T which are agreeable to the senses, 
how many more are there which only torment us? If the light of day is pleasant, the 
darkness of night is disagreeable: if the spring and the autumn are cheerng, the cold of 
winter and the heat of summer are painful. In addition, we have to endure the pains 
of sickness, the persecution of men and the inconveniences of poverty ; we must submit 
to interior troubles, to fears, to temptations of the devil, doubts of conscience, and to the 
uncertainty of eternal salvation. 

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But, after entering into paradise, the blessed shall have no more sorrows. God shall 
wipe away all tears from their eyes. The Lord shall dry up the tears which they have shed 
in this life. And death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any 
more, for the former things are passed away. And He that sat on the throne, said: Behold, I 
make all things new. In paradise, death and the fear of death are no more: in that place 
of bliss there are no sorrows, no infirmities, no poverty, no inconveniences, no vicissitudes 
of day or night, of cold or of heat. In that kingdom there is a continual day, always 
serene, a continual spring, always blooming. In paradise there are no persecutions, no 
envy; for all love each other with tenderness, and each rejoices at the happiness of the 
others, as if it were his own. There is no more fear of eternal perdition; for the soul 
confirmed in grace can neither sin nor lose God. 

In heaven you have all you can desire. Behold, I make all things new. There 
everything is new; new beauties, new delights, new joys. There all our desires shall be 
satisfied. The sight shall be satiated with beholding the beauty of that city. How 
delightful to behold a city in which the streets should be of crystal, the houses of silver, 
the windows of gold, and all adorned with the most beautiful flowers. But, oh! how 
much more beautiful shall be the city of paradise! the beauty of the place shall be 
heightened by the beauty of the inhabitants, who are all clothed in royal robes; for, 
according to St. Augustine, they are all kings. How delighted to behold Mary, the 
Queen of heaven, who shall appear more beautiful than all the other citizens of paradise! 
But what must it be to behold the beauty of Jesus Christ! St. Teresa once saw one of 
the hands of Jesus Christ, and was struck with astonishment at the sight of such beauty. 
The smell shall be satiated with odors, but with the odors of paradise. The hearing shall 
be satiated with the harmony of the celestial choirs. St. Francis once heard for a moment 
an angel playing on a violn, and he almost died through joy. How delightful must it be 
to hear the saints and angels singing the divine praises ! They shall praise thee forever and 
ever. What must it be to hear Mary praising God! St. Francis de Sales says, that, as 
the singing of the nightingale in the wood surpasses that of all other birds, so the voice 
of Mary is far superior to that of all the other saints. In a word, there are in paradise all 
the delights which a man can desire. 

But the delights of which we have spoken are the least of the blessings of paradise. 
The glory of heaven consists in seeing and loving God face to face. “Everything that 
we expect,” says St. Augustine, “is expressed in a word of one syllable, namely, God.” 
The reward which God promises to us does not consist altogether in the beauty, the 
harmony, and other advantages of the city of paradise. God Himself, whom the saints 
are allowed to behold, is, according to the promises made to Abraham, the principal 
reward of the just in heaven. I am thy reward exceeding great. St. Augustine asserts, 
that were God to show His face to the damned, “ Hell would be instantly changed into a 
paradise of delights.” And he adds, that were a departed soul allowed the choice of 
seeing God and suffering the pains of hell, or of being freed from these pains and deprived 
of the sight of God, “ it would prefer to see God, and to endure these torments.” 




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The delights of the soul infinitely surpass all the pleasures of the senses. Even in 
this life divine love infuses such sweetness into the soul when God communicates Himself 
to it, that the body is raised from the earth. St. Peter of Alcantara once fell into such 
an ecstasy of love, that, taking hold of a tree, he drew it up from the roots, and raised it 
with him on high. So great is the sweetness of divine love, that the holy martyrs, in the 
midst of their torments, felt no pain, but were on the contrary filled with joy. Hence 
St. Augustine says that when St. Laurence was laid on a red-hot gridiron, the fervor of 
divine love made him insensible to the burning heat of the fire. Even on sinners who 
weep for their sins, God bestows consolations which exceed all earthly pleasures. 
Hence St. Bernard says: “If it be so sweet to weep for thee, what must it be to rejoice 
in thee!” 

How great is the sweetness which a soul experiences, when, in the time of prayer, 
God, by a ray of His own light, shows to it His goodness and His mercies towards it, and 
particularly the love which Jesus Christ has borne to it in His Passion! It feels its heart 
melting, and as it were dissolved through love. But in this life we do not see God as He 
really is : we see Him as it were in the dark. W e see now through a glass in a dark manner, 
but then face to face. Here below God is hidden from our view ; we can see Him only with 
the eyes of faith: how great shall be our happiness when the veil shall be raised; and we 
shall be permitted to behold God face to face! We shall then see His beauty, His 
greatness, His perfection, His amiableness, and His immense love for our souls. 

Man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred. The fear of not loving God, 
and of not being loved by Him, is the greatest affliction which souls that love God 
endure on the earth; but, in heaven, the soul is certain that it loves God, and that He 
loves it; it sees that the Lord embraces it with infinite love, and that this love shall not 
be dissolved for all eternity. The knowledge of the love which Jesus Christ has shown 
it in offering Himself a sacrifice for it on the cross, and in making Himself its food in 
the sacrament of the altar, shall increase the ardor of its love. It shall also see clearly 
all the graces which God has bestowed upon it, all the helps which He has given it, to 
preserve it from falling into sin, and to draw it to His love. It shall see that all the 
tribulations, the poverty, infirmities, and persecutions which it regards as misfortunes, 
have all proceeded from love, and have been the means employed by divine Providence 
to bring it to glory. It shall see all the lights, loving calls, and mercies which God had 
granted to it after it had insulted Him by its sins. From the blessed mountain of 
paradise it shall see so many souls damned for fewer sins than it had committed, and 
shall see that it is saved and secured against the possibility of ever losing God. 

The goods of this earth do not satisfy our desires: at first they gratify the senses; 
but when we become accustomed to them they cease to delight. But the joys of paradise 
constantly satiate and content the heart. I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear. 
And though they satiate they always appear to be as new as the first time when they 
were experienced; they are always enjoyed and always desired, always desired and 
always possessed. “Satiety,” says St. Gregory, “accompanies desire.” Thus the 







414 



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desires of the saints in paradise do not beget pain, because they are always satisfied; 
and satiety does not produce disgust, because it is always accompanied with desire. 
Hence the soul shall be always satiated and always thirsty: it shall be forever thirsty, 
and always satiated with delights. The damned are, according to the Apostle, vessels 
full of wrath and of torments, vessels of wrath, fitted for destruction. But the just are 
vessels full of mercy and of joy, so that they have nothing to desire. They shall be 
inebriated with the plenty of Thy house. In beholding the beauty of God, the soul shall 
be so inflamed and so inebriated with divine love, that it shall remain happily lost in 
God ; for it shall entirely forget itself, and for all eternity shall think only of loving and 
praising the immense good which it shall possess forever, without the fear of having it 
in its power ever to lose it. In this life, holy souls love God; but they cannot love Him 
with all their strength, nor can they always actually love Him. St. Thomas teaches 
that this perfect love is only given to the citizens of heaven, who love God with their 
whole heart, and never cease to love Him actually. 

Justly, then, has St. Augustine said, that to gain the eternal glory of paradise, we 
should cheerfully embrace eternal labor. For nothing, says David, shall 'Thou save them. 
The saints have done but little to acquire heaven. So many kings who have abdicated 
their thrones and shut themselves up in a cloister; so many holy anchorets, who have 
confined themselves in a cave; so many martyrs who have cheerfully submitted to 
torments — to the rack, and to red-hot plates — have done but little. The sufferings of 
this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory to come. To gain heaven, it would be 
but little to endure all the pains of this life. 

Let us, then, brethren, courageously resolve to bear patiently with all the sufferings 
which shall come upon us during the remaining days of our lives : to secure heaven they 
are all little and nothing. Rejoice then; for all these pains, sorrows, and persecutions 
shall, if we are saved, be to us a source of never-ending joys and delights. Your sorrows 
shall be turned into joy. When, then, the crosses of this life afflict us, let us arise our eyes 
to heaven, and console ourselves with the hope of Paradise. At the end of her life, 
St. Mary of Egypt was asked by the Abbot St. Zozimus, how she had been able to live 
for forty-seven years in the desert where he found her dying. She answered: “With 
the hope of paradise.” If we be animated with the same hope, we shall not feel the 
tribulations of this life. Have courage! Let us love God and labor for heaven. There 
the saints expect us, Mary expects us, Jesus Christ expects us; He holds in His hand a 
crown to make each of us a king in that eternal kingdom. 


■)) j 









On Hell— Existence of Hell— Its Nature— Its Duration. 

r LMIGHTY GOD, our Creator and Master, being infinitely just, will 
reward the just in heaven, but He will also punish His ene- 
mies in the world to come; and as the fear of God is the be- 
ginning of wisdom, let us speak first of the existence of hell. 

There is nothing so common as to hear expressions like the 
following: “There is no hell.” “God is too good to damn a soul, 
to send it to hell.” “No one ever came from hell to tell us what 
there is there.” “How could God, all-merciful, punish sinners 
in everlasting fire?” 

We answer at once: There is a hell, there is a future punish- 
ment reserved for sinners. Let us look at this subject with the 
light of reason. It is undeniable that the greater part of men 
now believe in the existence of hell. How could they be brought to believe it unless we 
supposed that God revealed it? 

All nations have believed in future punishment. Pagan philosophers believed and 
taught this doctrine. Pagan poets described the different torments of the wicked. All 
Christian sects till quite recently believed in future punishment. Is it possible that all 
mankind erred in this point? 

There is a hell. God is infinite in all His perfections. He is infinitely merciful, He 
is also infinitely just. If He does not punish the wicked in the next world, then we 
make Him unjust and unholy. We make Him unjust, for the wicked here below generally 
enjoy the greater share of pleasures; we make Him also unholy, as we suppose that He 
looks with equal indifference upon the just and upon the sinner. To deny the existence 
of hell is to make God less holy than men; for men punish sin and reward virtue. 

Again, if we admit that there is a place of reward, we must also admit a place of 
punishment. To deny the existence of future punishment is to deny the wisdom of God. 
He has given us a law. That law had to be sanctioned. Men should be deterred from 
violating it by the threat of punishment, as they are encouraged to observe it by promises 
of reward. No, it will not do to say that there is no hell. God has written in the very 
heart of man, that we are bound to serve our Creator, that this is the object of our life; 
that if we obey Him we shall be rewarded, that if we do not obey Him we shall 
be punished. Nay, the doctrine of eternal punishment is in keeping with the dictates 

416 



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consequently that the rewards a"^'-gmiisliJfiehts^f^n 4 a^ft 

There is a hell. But you say tha'1fno"ohe ever came from there to teach us concerning 
it. But by what authority do you teach us that there is no hell? The Church of Christ 
had existed eighteen hundred years before there arose a sect which denied the existence 
of hell, and why did they start this doctrine? The answer is easily given: Men violate 
the law of God, yet they feel that they are immortal ; and when they stop to think of 
the future, terrified at the thought of punishment, they find it convenient to say that 
there is no hell, hoping thus to blind themselves and silence the voice of their conscience. 
You say that no one ever came from hell. In this you speak the truth, and you 
iould therefore endeavor so to live as to escape being condemned to hell. 

You say that no one ever came from hell. But there is One who appeareth on 
'earth, Who has given you life and intelligence — Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made man. 
He came, and He proved His divine mission by miracles and prophecies. He healed the 
sick, cast out devils, calmed the storms, raised the dead to life, and by His own power 
arose full of life from the grave three days after His death. What did He teach? He 
taught men to serve God, that they might escape “hell fire,” “the gehenna of fire,” “ the 
place of torments,” “ the fire that is never extinguished.” No, no; yon are the man who 
is not to be believed. You are much too late to be the teacher of mankind. The 
(Catholic Church has been commissioned by Jesus Christ to teach all nations, and there- 
l/yfore the Church cannot go astray; now the Church has ever taught, it teaches now, and 
!/ will forever teach, that there is a hell, a place of future punishment for the wicked. 
There is a hell; we believe in its existence as firmly as we believe in the existence of God. 

What is hell? In answer to this question, again consult your own reason. It will 
tell you that hell must be a place of horrible torments. In heaven, God, all-merciful, 
almighty, uses His wisdom and power to reward His friends — those who have done His 
will whilst on earth. Oh, how magnificent must that place be which has been prepared by 
the hand of God! how beautiful the kingdom purchased by the Blood of Jesus Christ! 

But hell is the place where the Almighty punishes those who have slighted Him, 
who abused life, abused all the blessings of creation, resisted the inspirations of the 
Holy Ghost, rerdered useless for themselves the Blood of Jesus Christ, by which they 
were redeemed. Let us go in spirit to Calvary, look at the bleeding body of Jesus Christ 
hanging from the cross, and say what punishment the man deserves who by his sins 
does all he can to renew the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ! 

Let us listen with attention to the words of our Lord Himself. 

Speaking of the place of punishment, Almighty God in His Scriptures calls it “ a land 
that is dark and covered with the mist of death ; a land of misery and darkness, where the 
shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horrorjiw ell a t^ ” (J -ol^io: 21, 22). It is 
called “this place of torments” ( Luke 1 the furnace of fire” (Matt. 13: 50); 

“exterior darkness” (lb. 25: pit” (Apoc. 9: 2); hell fire, where 

there is “weeping and gnafiiirt^oj^^eth ” (LflKe 13: 28). 


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It is a common opinion, though not a matter of faith, that hell is in the centre of 
the earth. Those volcanoes which vomit forth smoke, cinders, and streams of lava are 
thought HH^ome to be, as it were, the mouths of heh^and living witnesses of the wrath 
of God against His enemies, fye this as it may, thjbrejrs’a hell, a place of dreadful 


Hll Jwjp I go with you in spirit into the house of the reprobate? Ah! I confess that 
^/fi^^and trembling seize upon me when I think of the fate to which yoiyand I qr^.exposed, 
fire which is already kindled for you and for me, unless i^^tfrn 
' our hearts! Let us, however, go in spirit into hell, that we 
after death. 

Here is an uhfofhunate soul, which left its body a short time since. A great 
was made on the- day of that man’s funeral, but his soul has been judged; it -was fo'dna 
7 guilty, and condemned to hell. It is the soul of one who lived in the midst of pleasure^ 
and delights. Let us imagine that the day of the resurrection has taken place, and' 
that this man is in hell soul and body. Ah, how horrible his state! During his life he 
used his eyes to read bad books, to look at dangerous objects, to covet the wife and 
property of his neighbor. He never turned his eyes to heaven; he did not weep for 
his sins; now he is plunged into darkness: “the children of the kingdom shall be cast 
into exterior darkness” (Matt. 8: 12); “there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth.” 
We read (Exodus 10) that when “Moses stretched forth his hand towards heaven, there 
came horrible darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. No man saw his brother, 
nor moved himself out of the place where he was.” Oh, how long must the time have 
appeared to the Egyptians, for “no power of fire could give them light, neither could 
the bright flames of the stars enlighten that horrible night” (Wisd. 17: 5). A distant 
sound, or the falling of a leaf near them, filled them with terror. The darkness of Egypt 
lasted three days; the darkness of hell shall last forever. Not the sight of a star, not 
a ray of the sun, will interrupt the eternal darkness of hell ; and the darkness of the mind 
shall be yet more intolerable than the darkness of the body. For the damned there is 
no more truth, no more knowledge: they are separated from God, who is light itself; 
they are sunk forever in the most profound intellectual darkness. 

This man in life took delight in listening to the vain praise of flattery, to words of 
impurity, to profane conversations, to lascivious music. His ears are now greeted by 
other sounds. In hell there are cries of despair, weeping and gnashing of teeth. No 
one enters there, to bring to the reprobate a word of consolation, a word of hope. Hear 
the language of Dives, the rich glutton: “I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16: 24); 
“ O for a drop of water to refresh my tongue! ” 

^ See how tinges are changed for the reprobate. During life he turned his eyes from;; 
'/phe poor, he wouKLnotMhiten to their pitiful requests for a morsel of bread. Now he i^ 
cast away amongst affinons, adulterers, the^cpvetous, and the drunkards. His teeWaW 
clashing together by dint of violence of the tpripent. His tongue is parched with a 
violent thirst, he asks that the beggar may bring him one drop of water, and this is 




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refused him. Oh, how dearly he has now to pay for his sins of gluttony and intem- 
perance! He lived in luxury, and he is now tormented. 

Who shall describe the fire of hell? This fire was made not for the use of man, but 
for his punishment. It is kindled by the anger of Almighty God. This is the fire that 
never dieth. It ever devours, it never consumes. It preserves the victim which it 
torments. In this fire the reprobate is plunged; he cannot go out of it: he has fire above 
him and under him, fire all around him; it burns him exteriorly, it affects the very 
marrow of his bones. 

“Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with ever- 
lasting burnings?” (Isaias 33: 14). Would to God, my brethren, that all this were but 
a pious, exaggerated picture ! But the Lord has spoken, and He cannot deceive: “Where 
their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished ; ” and the sentence of the Supreme 
Judge is already written: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matt. 
25: 41). So it is, and this fire of hell will do its work with intelligence. It will know 
the degree of the guilt of each reprobate, and punish him accordingly. If you, my 
brethren, should lose your immortal souls, the fire of hell will discern in you the character 
of baptism and of confirmation, the graces which you received and neglected, all the 
good works you omitted to do, and all the sins of which you were guilty. “If we sin 
willfully after having the knowledge of the truth, there is now left no sacrifice for sins; 
but a certain dreadful expectation of judgment, and the rage of a fire, which shall con- 
sume the adversaries” (Heb. 10: 26, 27). O you men and women, so fond of pleasures, 
so afraid of gain or the least restraint, so fond of every sensual gratification, how will 
you be able to endure such torments ! 

In hell the soul has also its especial torture. “The worm dieth not.” This worm 
is the voice of the reprobate’s conscience. Life is now over; it shall never come back. 
The pleasures which caused his damnation are gone. Ah, how cheaply he has lost his 
soul! The pleasures are gone, gone forever, gone in a moment without giving him a 
moment of true happiness ; and now he must suffer forever. It was so easy for him to 
save his soul! He had the sacraments of the Church, the teaching of his pastor, the 
influence of good example, the protection of the saints, of the angels of God, of Mary, 
the powerful mother of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Himself had suffered and died for 
him, and had so many times invited him to penance and reconciliation. Many of his 
friends and relatives saved their souls by obeying the call of divine grace. But the 
time of grace is gone for him. There are now no life-giving sacraments for him, there 
are now for him no intercessors in heaven! “Their worm dieth not.” Truly they have 
erred, they have wearied themselves in the way of iniquity, and have walked hard ways, 
but the way of the Lord they have not known. “What hath pride profited” to them? 
“what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought” to them? (Wisd. 5:8). 

Amongst the torments of the wicked there is one more dreadful than fire, darkness, 
or any other torment of body or soul. That torment consists in the loss of God, in being 
deprived of seeing Him for Whom they wejrecreated. During life they turned their back 



"ujiah- Him, they^dma'^ Now He will not see them. He has cast th|Hg 

iaway His face: “^Depart fn^fij-’.Me^you cursed, into everlasting fire.” They are 

cast away with an eternal maledicfi^froHjJfejkWho is all beauty and goodness. Whax 
can there be far from God but eternal On earth, we to some extent see anC 

enjoy God in His creatures. Sinners do iK>c>-reel the evil of separation from God in its 
full extent, because they have not seen Him in His glory, and because their attention and 
affections are diverted to other objects. And yet, even in this world, we often feel that 
we are made for God, that His presence alone can make us happy. “God, my God, my 
soul hath thirsted for Thee” (Ps. 62 : 2). When shall I come and appear before the face 
of God? “As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters, so my soul panteth after 
Thee, 0 God” (Ps. 41 : 1). Who amongst us has not many times felt in his heart that he 
is here an exile, in a valley of tears; that then only will the cravings of his soul be filled 
“when the glory of God will appear?” The wicked in hell have lost God, they have lost' 
Him by their fault. On the day of the general judgment they saw Jesus Christ in His 
glory, surrounded with His saints and angels; they had a glimpse of the glory of heaven; 
they saw the saints ascending toward it in company of the angels, following their glorious’ 
Redeemer: but they are kept out, they are cast away. They have lost God, they have 
lost their soul, they have lost all! 


Duration of Hell, 


How long, O my God, will those unfortunate souls remain in hell? Surely a few 
I* days, or at most a few years of such torments should appease Thy anger. Ah, poor 

(J sinner! God, Whom thou didst offend, is infinite. The Blood of Jesus Christ, which ' 

thou didst trample upon, is the Blood of Him by Whom all things were made. Thou lv\A 
didst turn thy heart from thy Maker, and persevered in thy revolt against Him. Thou\. 

\ hadst before thee water or fire, life or death, thou didst deliberately choose thy own u 
^ condemnation. \<f 

How long will their torments last? They will last forever. Out of hell there is no \ j 

JP J redemption. This is the doctrine that you were taught, this is the doctrine that you ' V ^ 

//^^Tbelieve. Hear the words of the Saviour: “ Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting 
jSgptire;” “their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished;” “what shall it profit a J 
Iwman if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? ” It is six thousand ^n^i /7 
years at least since Lucifer was sent to that place of torments. It is upwards of eighteen -gy" 
~:~\hundred years since Judas went down J.CLhell, and a longer time since Dives, the rich 
^^_jgJutton, has been asking for a drop-s^f water. -^Question all these, and ask them what S $ 
part of their punishment is past, anc^ijiey will anVwet^u: 'We have suffered so 
years in hell, but after all we^dve^^y^ne^d. npthipg, w^^re j^igt beginning. A hundredD^PyX' 
Is ^years, a thousan^jjyeirs, a^ijlion <4. ilebstill' the same. 

L^iust beginning suiffer. j ' V 


U 









In hell they are in darkness forever, in the company of the devils and the wicked 
forever, in despair forever, deprived of the presence of God forever. And when you, my 
dear brethren, shall have gone into the house of your eternity, the rivers will continue to 
flow into the ocean, the sun will continue to warm and enlighten the world ; revolutions 
will be going on as usual amongst the nations of this globe; you shall die; the world 
itself will be consumed by fire, and your bodies will come out of their graves at the sound 
of the last trumpet. But eternity will be still beginning for you. Eternity means 
forever. If at this very moment an angel of God were sent by Him to the reprobate in 
hell with this message: “ Listen. The Almighty has changed His decree. One of you 
shall be allowed to shed one tear every thousandth year. That tear, that drop of water, 
shall not dry up. When that man, shedding one tear every thousandth year, shall have 
shed enough tears to fill up all the streams, all the rivers, all the oceans of the world, then 
you shall be set free.” Ah, at that message a shout of joy would burst from their lips. 
But, alas ! in hell there is no hope. Eternity has no end. 

It was this thought of hell, the thought of an eternal punishment for sinners, which 
so affected the soul of our Lord Jesus Christ; for He saw the number of souls which 
would be eternally lost, notwithstanding all He suffered for them. 

In order to prevent you from falling into hell, He died on the cross. Have now 
recourse to His mercy, lest you fall into the hands of His justice. Cast away those sins 
which made you liable to the fire of hell. Begin to love God, your merciful Father, Who 
wishes you to be saved, and has left to His Church the power to forgive you. Be now 
converted to Him with all your hearts. He will remit your sins. The angels will rejoice 
at your conversion, and you will again be permitted to receive Holy Communion, that 
sacred bread of life which will preserve your soul unto life everlasting. 


jQGp G O 




(JGOQQO 














The Chaplet of St. Anthony 


TT is composed of 13 decades of 
1 3 beads each. On the first 

bead of each decade is said 
the “Our Father”; on 
the second, the “ Hail 
Mary”; and on the 
third, “ Glory be to 
the Father,” etc. 

At the end the 
Miraculous Re- 


The 

Miraculous Responsory 

By St. Bonaventure. 


sponsory is re- 
cited. 




pRm 


If miracles thou fain would see ; 

Lo, error, death, calamity, 

The leprous stain, the demon flies, 

From beds of pain the sick arise. 

The hungry seas forego their prey, 

The prisoner’s cruel chains give way ; 

While palsied limbs and chattels lost 
Both young and old recovered boast. 

And perils perish ; plenty’s hoard 
Is heaped on hunger’s famished board, 

Let those relate who know it well, 

Let Padua of her patron tell. 

The hungry seas, etc. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy 
Ghost. 

The hungry seas, etc. 

V. Pray for us, Blessed Anthony. 

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ 
Let us Pray. 

O God! Let the votive commemoration of Blessed Anthony, Thy con- 
fessor, be a source of joy to Thy Church, that she may always be fortified 
with spiritual assistance, and may deserve to possess eternal joy. Through 
Christ our Lord, Amen. 

An indulgence of 100 days each time. A plenary indulgence once 
a month. 

Prayer to Obtain from St. Anthony the Restoration 
of Things that are Lost. 

Great St. Anthony, who hast received from God a special powerto re- 
cover lost things, help me that I may find that which I am now seeking. 
Obtain for me, also, an active faith, perfect docility to the inspirations of 
grace, disgust for the vain pleasures of the world, and an ardent desire for 
the imperishable goods of an everlasting happiness. Amen. 






at Anff)on^ of Padua. 

Glorious St. Anthony, no one has ever invoked thy aid without some 
consolation. We therefore place in thy hands our present petition, that thou 
mayest present it to thy dear Jesus, who through the love He bears for thee 
will grant our requests. 

MONG the followers of St. Francis of Assisium, there are few, who, 
from their lives and miracles, have received such world- wide 
admiration as Anthony of Padua. He was a contemporary 
of the Seraphic Apostle. Although Padua will ever be asso- 
ciated with his name, and his relics repose within the mag- 
nificent Basilica raised there to his honor, Padua was not 
his first home. On the banks of the Tagus, in the beautiful 
city of Lisbon, Ferdinand de Bouillon, our saint, was bom on 
the fifteenth day of August, 1195. Dedicated to the Mother 
of God, the Patroness of his birthday, he was especially devoted 
to her service from his earliest years. At the very dawn of reason 
he showed signs of predestined sanctity. When but five years 
old, he desired to consecrate himself wholly to the service of his Creator. Thenceforward, 
he was remarkable for his love of home, his compassion for the poor, and a veneration for 
the services and liturgy of the Church. Above all, he evinced a marvelous devotion and 
love towards the Real Presence, and for the Sacrifice of the Mass, at which he never failed 
to assist daily. His pious parents rejoicing, and nevertheless like others astonished, at 
perceiving such virtues in their child, did not hesitate to further his holiest desires. His 
religious training was confided to the clergy attached to the Cathedral of Lisbon. At the 
age of fifteen, desiring a life of retirement, Ferdinand entered a convent of Canons Regular 
of St. Augustine whose remodeled constitutions were founded on the older forms of 
monasticism. Up to this period, the object of all religious orders had been to separate 
men from the world and from any concern in its affairs. Wholly different was the 
new idea of Francis of Assisium, the prescribed rule of whose Order taught its mem- 
bers to consider themselves as formed for action in the struggle of life. The Franciscans 
were to be, so to speak, chosen soldiers, pledged to labor openly for the service of God, 
observing strict obedience to His Vicar on earth, and devoted unreservedly to the 
alleviation of the poor. 

Having received the approval of the Holy Father, the Seraphic Order spread very 
rapidlv. Portugal, which, under the rule of Alphonso II., had recovered its independence 

(425) 


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COCCCCCCCCCOCCOCX' 


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presented many attractions to the Mendicant Friars for the foundation of an early 
ment of their Order in that kingdom. The conversion of the Moors was one of th 
objects most ardently desired by Francis and his first disciples, and for this end th 
sympathy as well as the aid of the Portuguese Court would be invaluable. Under the 
auspices of the King and his virtuous Queen, Francis erected, near Coimbra, the first 
convent in that country. 

The saintly hero of our narrative, Ferdinand de Bouillon, had now spent some years 
among the white-robed canons of Lisbon. At this period of his life, he is described as a 
model of all religious perfection. His love of silence, and recollection, his constant 
watchfulness over the feelings of his heart ; his devotion and implicit faith in prayer ; 
austerities and constant acts of self-denial were the admiration not only of his 
community, but of those of the outer world, who were privileged to share his 
and saintly teachings. 

The life of this saint might be said to be one long continuation of miracles. In the 
annals of the Church during the ages that have passed since his time, he has been ever 
styled the “ Wonder-worker.” It was meet, therefore, in the dispensation of Providence, 
that the city of Ferdinand’s birth should be favored with the first manifestation of that 
supernatural power with which he was invested by Almighty God. It is told that one 
day when visiting the shrines of our Lady in the Cathedral of Lisbon, his eyes reverently 
turned from the image of the Blessed Mother to the Real Presence of her Divine Son, 
enshrined in the high altar of the church. His heart was filled with ecstacy as he breathed 
forth acts of homage and adoration to the King of kings, Who lay concealed behind the 
golden portals of the Tabernacle. At the moment of his intensest rapture, the Angel of 
darkness appeared to him under the most loathsome form, presenting a spectacle deeply 
repulsive to his angelic soul. At first, he almost swooned away with terror, but recol- 
lecting himself, he recalled the efficacy of the saving Sign in times of every danger, 
as he traced the form of the Cross on the marble step where he knelt, the foul vision dis 
appeared. The hard, cold marble, however, yielded to the soft pressure of the 
fingers that traced the Sign of faith upon it, where, like an impress on a waxen tablet, 
“ St. Anthony’s Cross” may still be seen. 

After our saint had pronounced his vows, his desire for retirement and absolute 
communion with God grew daily stronger. In the constant visits of his immediate 
family and of the number of acquaintances by whom he was ever sought in his native 
city, Ferdinand’s longings for contemplative perfection were beset with great difficulties. 
After mature consideration, and having invoked the ‘‘Holy Spirit of Wisdom,” he 
determined to petition his Superiors to remove him to another convent of the Canons. 

The Convent of Santa Cruz, or Holy Cross, at Coimbra, was selected as the new 
home of our saint. 

Close to Coimbra, as we have said, St. Francis erected his first settlement in Portugal. 
Its site was a beautiful hamlet, in the midst of olive groves, from which it derived its 
name — Olivarez. To the seraphic saint, who was such a lover of nature, this convent, 

(426) 




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fron^jflie bgaufrrof its situation, was especially dear. As its , 

6 se ^fc^Anthony of the Desert, the primitive model of monks. 

entiments of holiest intimacy and kindness sprung up, from the 
Cjwrons of the old-time rule and the brothers of St. Francis at Oliva^i 
oj^-feligious observance was still a marvel to the Orders hitherto existing in the Chuf^h. 

Santa Cruz was visited by five of the Franciscan brethren. They were missiona™ 
th^ee priests and two lay-brothers, whom, at a Chapter, St. Francis had commisskxiec 
proceed to Morocco to preach the faith to the Saracens. Their zeal, courage, anoH 
bright hopes they expressed of, perhaps, winning martyr’s crowns, added new flame 
the burning desire which had taken possession of Ferdinand’s soul. 

Having presented themselves at the Court of Coimbra, the missionaries proceeded to 
their destination. Their fate, sad, yet glorious as it was, would involve a lengthened 
record here. Suffice it to say, that five days after Ferdinand had bid them farewell, the 
sword of the Emir of Morocco dealt them the fatal blow, which conferred on one and all 
the crown of martyrdom. This occurred on the eve of January 16, 1220. 

In the month of July, 1220, the friars of Olivarez, in company with many of their 
brethren, came to pay their devotions at the shrine of their martyred companions, in 
Coimbra. No longer able to defer the accomplishment of the Divine Will, Ferdinand made 
known to them his wish to join their Order. “With all the ardor of my soul,’’ he ex- 
claimed, “do I desire to assume the holy habit of your Order. I am ready to do so, on 
one condition, namely, that having adopted the garb of penance, you will send me to the 
Saracens, that I also may merit to participate in the crown of your holy martyrs.” 

The condition under which Anthony had offered himself as a candidate to the brethren 
of St. Francis was put into effect shortly after he entered the Order. He was already a 
priest, consequently his profession was not long delayed. Immediately after that solemn 
event, he bade farewell to the hermitage of Olivarez, and embarked for Morocco. He 
sailed from the coast of Portugal towards the close of the year 1220. As the vessel came 
in sight of the coast of Africa, Anthony’s soul was filled with delight and holiest projects. 
Sweet, transcendent dreams, cravings of a heart overflowing with apostolic zeal, yet, 
they were never to be realized. 

Scarcely had Anthony reached the shores of this promised land when he was seized^ fl 
with illness. For days, weeks, and months he lay prostrate with fever, brought on by tlie [' \ 
fatigue and anxiety of his voyage, together with the change of climate. His voice was 
never once heard in the streets of the Moorish capital, nor did the name of Christ Crucified 
ever fall from his lips on the ears of those for whose salvation he pined. When at length 
he grew a little better, Anthony received orders from his superiors to return to Portugal. 
Disappointed, but with implicit obedience, he immediately reembarked. In the return 
voyage, the vessel, in which our gamt-Jy-aveled, was borne by stress of weather out of her 
course, and compelled Island of Sicily, near Taormina. Land- 

ing here, Anthony ha^ened iOT^tciSilessfn^Srh^^Iie'Jfarned the friars of his Order 
had a convent. He$0]£ rested foru few moi^^s 1q!^|^r@«^ered his strength. 


JL 





The 30th of May, 1221, was the day fixed by St. Francis for the fourth General Council 
of his Order at Portiuncula. Anthony resolved to attend the convocation, that he might 
more thoroughly understand the spirit of the Order, and, as well, have the happiness of 
gazing on the form of the seraphic Founder, whose name was already stamped upon the 
world’s page as one of the greatest leaders the Church militant had ever seen. 

The assembly numbered two thousand followers of the rule of the Friars-minor, 
among whom were the most distinguished members of each province. Arriving at 
Portiuncula quite alone, he found himself, unknown and unnoticed, in the busy throng. 
However, one longing wish was satisfied — he saw St. Francis. During the sessions that 
occupied each day of the chapter, Anthony could scarcely take away his eyes from the 
saintly form, emaciated and almost worn-out, as it then was, with austerities and labors 
and yet by its very presence breathing lessons of humility, zeal and charity. Incessantly 
did Anthony thank God, from the fullness of his heart, for having called him to serve in 
the ranks of such a guide. At this time the health of the holy Founder was so completely 
shattered that he was unable to raise his voice. And we are told, on this occasion, he 
sadly took his place at the feet of his Minister-General, who announced the saint’s appoint- 
ments and instructions to all those present. At the close of the chapter several new 
regulations were decided on, and provision made for Missions and other offices. Anthony, 
however, unknown and unrecognized, perhaps from the youthfulness of his appearance, 
was passed over and left unnamed for any province. On the day of his departure, how- 
ever, attracted by the beneficent mien of Father Gratian, Provincial of Bologna, he 
addressed himself to him, entreating him that he would allow him to share the life and 
teachings of his community in the famous city of learning where they resided. Struck 
with the humility and earnestness of Anthony, and learning that he was ordained, Father 
Gratian received him, and gladly arranged to have him accompany him on his return to 
Bologna. 

In Ember week, 1222, March 19 was fixed by the Bishop of Forli for a ceremony of 
ordination. Among the aspirants to Holy Orders were many religious of the Orders of 
St. Francis and St. Dominic. The Prior of Bologna, taking Anthony as his companion, 
set out for the city, which lay not far from Monte Paolo, to attend the solemn functions. 
Father Gratian was asked by the Bishop of Forli to deliver the address usually pro- 
nounced on such occasions. He, however, requested that the honor would be offered to 
some of the learned Dominicans present. But no one could be prevailed on to comply, 
pleading their want of preparation to preach on so important a subject. Father Gratian 
then turning to his companion, besought that he would ascend the pulpit. Anthony in 
his obedience, looking upon the desire of his superior as equivalent to a command from 
God, took up the task, invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit. He is said never to have 
preached in public before. For the text of his discourse he took the words of the Apostle: 
“Christ became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” This act of perfect 
obedience on the part of Anthony was rewarded by a wonderful favor from God. Although 
wholly unprepared, his unction, eloquence, and marvelous interpretation of the Word 

42S 











of God completely carried away his audience, who listened breathless and entranced by 
the power of language that fell from the inspired lips of the young Franciscan. On that 
day the keynote of the sacred eloquence that was soon to vibrate throughout Christen- 
dom was struck. The new flame was alighted which was soon to dispel the gloom of 
darkness and error which was lowering over the Church of Christ. 

Our wonder-working saint may be said to have entered on his miraculous mission in 
1224. In the Lent of that year he took up a course of Lenten sermons in the city of 
Vercelli, Italy. Day by day the numbers who assembled round his pulpit increased. 
The influence of divine grace in converting erring hearts proved marvelous in its results. 
The city thrilled with enthusiasm over the preaching of the young friar. One morning, 
when our saint was addressing the congregation, the corpse of a young man was borne 
into the church. The grief of the parents and mourners that followed the bier so affected 
Anthony, that pausing in his sermon, and looking on the open coffin, he lifted up his 
hands, crying out: “In the name of Christ, I say to thee, young man, arise!” At the 
words, the youth arose, and threw himself into the arms of his parents. 

At Montpellier, that miracle took place which was the origin of the pious belief in 
his -special power, for which the clients of St. Anthony most frequently implore him. 
Though many may not be acquainted with the wonders of the saint’s life, the efficacy of 
his aid in recovering things lost is proverbial in every Catholic country over the whole 
world. 

During the saint’s stay in this city he gave much time and care to transcribing and 
revising his Commentary on the Psalms. The work was the result of hours of weary toil 
and study, and -was much valued by the writer. At the time there was in the community 
of this convent a novice, who had grown tired of religious life and decided on leaving. 
Being aware of the value of the manuscript and of its beautiful enrichments, he stole it 
from the saint’s cell on his departure. In his flight from the convent he had to cross a 
bridge, where he was intercepted by a dreadful monster, which threatened to cleave him 
asunder unless he returned the stolen treasure. Terrified, the novice returned, and on his 
knees acknowledged the theft, and gave back the priceless work to its author. The saint 
willingly forgave him, and, moreover, induced him to return to religion, wherein he perse- 
vered in repentance and holiness till his death. 

Possibly it was St. Anthony’s holy resignation to the loss of his treasure, as well as 
his charity towards the offender, that obtained for him the particular power of recovering 
things lost, which after ages attributed to his intercession. 

From Montpellier, St. Anthony passed on to Toulouse, the capital of Languedoc. 
The place was a hot-bed of infidelity and anarchy. Political intrigues and disaffections 
among various leaders of the people fostered the influence of heresy. Here the saint 
spent three months. His mission found such favor with heaven, that a vision was 
vouchsafed him by the Mother of the Incarnate Word. Up to this period the bodily 
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven was accepted only as a pious tradition of 
the fathers of the Church. On the birtdhay of St. Anthony, 15th of August, our Blessed 

429 



7 



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Lady appears to him all clothed in radiance of heavenly splendor, and with a voice of 
ineffable sweetness addressed him thus : “ My son,” she said, “ be assured that this body of 
mine which has been the living Ark of the Word Incarnate has been preserved from the 
corruption of the grave. Be equally assured that three days after my death it was. 
carried on the wings of angels to the right hand of the Son of God, where I reign as 
Queen.” This apparition was not regarded by the saint as a personal favor. He^ 
received it as the representative of the whole Church, and he did not hesitate to proclaim 
boldly this divine prerogative of the Mother of God. 

In his thirtieth year Anthony was appointed guardian of Puy-en-Velay. This was 
in September, 1225. His fame as an orator and miracle- worker now rang throughout 
France. In this city there lived a famous notary, who, however, was a man of careless 
life and dissolute habits. Knowing his appearance, the saint saluted him with profour 
respect whenever he met him in the street. These marks of reverence enraged the 
evil-minded man, who one day demanded the meaning of “ this nonsense.” 

“My brother,” replied the Franciscan, “didst thou but know the favor God has 
store for thee! I longed for the martyr’s palm, but the Lord did not grant my desire, 
while He has revealed to me that thou art destined to receive this grace.” The notar 
scoffed at the saint’s reply and passed on. The prediction was afterwards verified 
.Some years subsequently, touched by grace, the lawyer joined a pilgrimage to Palestii^^. 
and, having fallen into the hands of the Saracens, was arrested and condemned to deatn^ 
At the moment of his execution, the prophecy of Anthony flashed on his mind, and he 
revealed it to the Franciscan father who attended him on the scaffold. 

At Bourges, a miracle of St. Anthony wrought the conversion of Guillard, the Jew. 

A sermon on his favorite theme — the Real Presence — provoked a challenge on the part' 
of the unbeliever. Addressing the saint, he demanded a miracle to confirm the truth of 
what he preached. 

“Brother Anthony,” he said, “if you should give some indisputable sign of the 
mystery taught by you, I will abjure the creed of my fathers and embrace yours.” 

“ Certainly,” replied St. Anthony. 

“ I have a mule,” continued Guillard, “which I will starve for three days. At the end 
of that time I will lead it into the public square and offer it food. At the same time, I 
request you will come, bringing with you a consecrated Host. If the animal refuses the 
proffered food, in order to prostrate itself before the monstrance, I will become a Chris- 
tian.” 

The saint accepted the conditions of the challenge. 

When the day came the square was filled with an expectant crowd. When the mule 
was led forth, Anthony bore the Sacred Host from the church, and with a loud voice com- 
manded the animal to come forward and prostrate itself before its God, hidden under the-' 
appearance of Bread. Meanwhile food was offered to the famished beast, which took no 
notice of it, but in obedience to the voice of the saint went to where he stood, and bent down 
on his knees in an attitude of adoration before the hidden God of the Blessed Sacrament. 




ft 






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430 




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Guillard was converted. He devoted his wealth to erecting a splendid church, 
dedicated to St. Peter, on the spot where the wonderful event occurred. His descendants 
afterwards rebuilt it in more costly style. It is one of the most beautiful of the monu- 
ments of the city of Bourges, the capital of Berry, at the present day. 

During a visit to Limousin, he enjoyed the hospitality of the lord of Chateau-neuf, 
who held in greatest veneration the saint and his Order. When Anthony retired to his 
apartment in the evening, he prolonged his private devotions far into the night. Sud- 
denly he beheld the room filled with supernatural light. This was the occasion of the 
vision of the Divine Child, which art has made familiar to the Catholic world in its repre- 
sentations of the saint. By special favor of Divine Providence, the hospitable Tiso, lord 
of the castle, was permitted to share the vision. Attracted by the extraordinary light, 
he ascended to the door of the saint’s apartment. Within he beheld the Divine Child, 
radiant with light and celestial loveliness, resting on a book in the arms of Anthony, 
lavishing sweetest embraces on this favored soul. Some share of the bliss that over- 
flowed the heart of the saint was vouchsafed to his noble host, who, when he was per- 
mitted to relate the heavenly scene, after Anthony’s death, could never restrain tears of 
joyful emotion. St. Anthony knew by inspiration that Tiso had seen the vision, but 
had been told never to reveal it during his lifetime. Being questioned by Tiso as to 
what our Infant Lord had spoken to him, Anthony informed him that his house would 
flourish and enjoy great prosperity as long as his descendants should remain faithful 
children to the Church, but would be overwhelmed with misfortune and become extinct 
if they fell away from the true fold. The words were verified, for when a future lord of 
Chateau-neuf, in the seventeenth century, embraced the teachings of Calvin, a blight 
fell upon his race and his line became extinct. 

After this vision of St. Anthony, probably from some manifestation of our Blessed 
Lord, the love of solitude and retirement which marked the early years of the saint, 
returned to his heart. He longed once more to quit the world and be alone with God. 

From Chateau-neuf he retired to Brive, where, seeking out a solitary place, he 
erected a little hermitage. Here he received the vows of many postulants, who sought 
at his hands the habit of St. Francis. In this solitude fresh wonders blessed the prayers 
of this privileged son of heaven. Through the charity of a lady of Brive, the wants of 
the saint were supplied. Her servants, who used to bring the daily food to the her- 
mitage, often told that when, on their errand, rain and tempest prevailed around and 
threatened them, they were miraculously preserved. Old records of this time are 
filled with wonders and favors granted through the intercession of the wonder-working 
apostle. 

The death of St. Francis was officially announced by the provisional General of the 
Order towards the end of 1226. A chapter was summoned for the 30th of May of the 
following year. None more than Anthony bewailed the death of his spiritual Father, 
whom he unceasingly invoked from his throne in Paradise, to bless his children and the 
holy substitute he bequeathed to them. 

43i 


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Anthony bade farewell to his solitude in 1227, and passing through Marseilles, came 
to a small village in Provence. One evening, wearied with his journey, he was invited 
by a poor woman to rest in her cottage and take some refreshment. Having borrowed 
a valuable goblet from a lady to set before the saint and his companion, she hastened to 
the cellar to procure some wine. In her absence the lay-brother, by accident, upset the 
goblet, which was smashed on the floor. Hearing the noise, the poor woman rushed 
into the apartment, displeased, no doubt, at the fate of the borrowed glass. Taking 
compassion on her confusion, Anthony collected the broken fragments, and, lifting his 
eyes in prayer, the vessel was made whole! Suddenly the anxious host remembered 
she had left the wine flowing in the cellar — it was all gone ! On telling her guests of her 
plight, the saint bade her return to the cellar; and when she did so, she found the cask 
full to the brim. 

During Holy Week (1227) our saint reached Rome. In the March of that year 
Gregory IX. ascended the Papal throne. As Cardinal Hugolio, he had been protector 
of the Franciscan Order. Gregory received the saintly Anthony with all kindness and 
fatherly affection, and, in charging him to announce the indulgences of the “Stations 
of the Cross,” commanded him to preach the new Crusade which had been organized by 
the French King. Easter Sunday (while the saint occupied the pulpit of St. Peter’s) 
witnessed the repetition of the miracle of the first Pentecost. People of all nationalities 
were there present, and each person heard the words of the preacher in his own tongue. 
Although thousands were numbered in that vast concourse, his voice was heard even by 
those who stood beyond the precincts of the mighty edifice. On this occasion he was 
styled by the august Pontiff “ the living Ark of the Covenant.” 

At the Chapter of May 30, to which Anthony had come to assist, Giovani Parenti 
was appointed General of the Franciscans, and our saint was elected Provincial of Bo- 
logna, which was the most important province of the Order in Italy. 

Having provided for the administration of the Order in the province of Bologna, 
Anthony, with superhuman courage and zeal, set out for Rimini, cross in hand, to preach 
the gospel of peace to the infatuated and hostile parties. The city of Rimini was a 
stronghold of the Cathari, one of the rival factions. For the first time during many 
years the heart of the orator saint sank within him. He, upon whose words the ears of 
countless thousands had hung, would not now be listened to! He was received not only 
with cold indifference, but was reviled with contempt and ridicule. Filled with agony 
akin to despair, Anthony turned to God. Having spent a whole night in prayer, during 
which the bitter memories of Gethsemanj floated before his troubled thoughts, he rose 
with renewed trust in God and fresh courage in his heart. 

The following day he invited the obdurate crowd to follow him, if they would, to 
the sea beach. Many among them, no doubt, had heard of his wonderful miracles, and 
through curiosity at the strange request accompanied him passively to the shores. As 
the saint proceeded on his way the crowd increased, all eager to see what was about to 
occur. Anthony showed no intention of repeating the fruitless efforts of the previous 



432 




days by addressing them. Reaching the point where the River Marecalia enters the 
Adriatic, and casting his eyes over the blue expanse spread before him, he stood, and 
lifting his soul to heaven, gave himself up to prayer. The concourse of people had now 
swelled considerably. Was he going to preach to them once more? No! he heeded 
them not, but stood immovable, facing the ocean. At last, as one inspired, with a loud 
voice, he exclaimed: “Ye fishes of the rivers, ye fishes of the sea, listen unto me. It is 
to you I have come to announce the Word of God, since men have turned away from 
Him, and refuse to listen.” In the calm of the noonday sunlight, the sea grew very 
agitated, and gliding through the waters myriads of shoals of silvery-scaled fish ap- 
proached towards the point where the saint was standing. Then ranging themselves in 
order, all stood still. 

“My brothers, the fishes,” said Anthony, addressing them, “you owe your Creator 
a debt of gratitude. It is He who has assigned to you, for your abode, this noble element 
with its boundless expanse, where you may roam at large. It is He who has given you 
the shelter of the depths below against the fury of the tempest. It is God who has given 
strength and swiftness to glide amidst the waves, and who daily supplies you with 
abundant food. When He created you He blessed you, and bade you increase and 
multiply. When He destroyed men and living creatures on earth by the deluge, He left 
you unmolested. It was upon you He conferred the privilege of saving the Prophet 
Jonas, of furnishing tribute money for the Word Incarnate, and of yielding Him nourish- 
ment both before and after His resurrection. Bless, then, and praise the Lord, your 
Creator and Preserver, who has thus specially favored you amongst His creatures.” As 
if endowed with understanding, the extraordinary audience seemingly listened to every 
word addressed to them. And before the saint allowed them to disperse, he turned to 
the crowd, sayjng: “Behold, and judge for yourselves, how beings devoid of reason 
seem far more eager to listen to the Word of God than rational creatures formed to His 
own image and likeness!” In presence of this miracle the vast concourse, awe-stricken 
by the omnipotence of God, fell upon their knees and repented of the folly that induced 
them to despise the teachings of His apostle. Thanking God, Anthony, turning to the 
fishes, who still remained attentive, raised his hand and blessed them, when all dispersed. 
The report of this miracle filled all the inhabitants of Padua with a holy fear of the saint’s 
power. Little more was needed to convince his hearers that his words were the words 
of God. As he left the city none were louder in the exclamations of thanksgiving than 
the converted Cathari, who, when he came amongst them, had caused such bitter 
disappointment to his heart. 

Anthony now turned his steps toward Padua, the city of his fame. It is said in all 
his wanderings he seldom followed any premeditated route. Now, resigning himself to 
the guidance of Divine Providence, he was beckoned onward by an unseen hand. Anthony 
entered Padua in the Shrovetide of 1228. What strange emotions must have filled his 
heart when for the first time he trod the narrow streets of that ancient city! May not he, 
who was so often privileged to witness and reveal events which lay concealed in the 

433 




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distant future, have had a foreglimpse of the new lustre which his own fame was to 
add to the glories of ancient Padua? 

Owing to the traditions that cling to Padua, it is invested with an old-world interest 
which is hardly to be found in any other Italian city. Its foundation is proudly assigned 
to Atenar, one of the heroes of Troy. Its olden story is a tale of many wars. Alaric, 
Atilla, and the Lombards forced its gates. Generations of its citizens died nobly in 
defence of its walls and battlements. In the days of Charlemagne the glory of its primal 
days returned once more, and under his successors it became flourishing and independent. 
At the period of the narrative we tell in these pages, Padua had attained an eminent 
degree of splendor. Its university ranked among the foremost of Europe. The celebrity 
and beauty of the place attracted the sightseers of the world of that day. But beneath 
this show of material greatness all those vices which follow in the train of pride had found 
ample refuge in Padua. Luxury, dissipation, usury, party contentions, and their con- 
sequent effects — loss of faith, forgetfulness of God — were unhappily the characteristics 
of its inhabitants. 

It was against these secret vices rather than against heresy and scepticism that the 
voice of the Franciscan was now to be raised. 

The moment his presence in Padua was made known the bishop, at the solicitation 
of some pious citizens, pleaded earnestly that Anthony should preach the Lenten course 
of sermons. From the very outset he fearlessly attacked the unworthy lives of the 
people, picturing to them the fearful fate of those accursed cities which in the fury of 
His wrath God had blotted from the face of the earth. So captivating was his eloquence 
that very soon the vast cathedral was found insufficient to contain the multitudes that 
daily assembled there. 

In the broad plain on the borders of Padua a temporar.y pulpit was then erected, 
round which eager crowds assembled, even at daybreak, hours and hours before the time 
fixed for the delivery of the saint’s discourse. There were many in the city who from 
various causes were prevented from being present at the sermons of the wonderful 
preacher. To some of those God granted wonderful privileges. 

It is told that a good woman, owing to the illness of her husband, could not leave her 
home to attend a particular lecture which she greatly desired to hear. In her longing 
she went to the upper window of her house, where she could see the vast assembly on the 
distant plain. It was two miles away. To her joy and surprise, when the saint com- 
menced his discourse, she heard every word as distinctly as if she had been standing at 
his feet! We also read of sinners who were so unfortunate as to have made careless or 
sacrilegious confessions, who were miraculously visited by the saint in their sleep and 
called upon to arise and confess the sins which they had concealed ! 

It was during the stay of the saint at Padua, on this occasion, that the following 
extraordinary occurrence took place. Among his penitents was a young man who 
accused himself of having kicked his mother. In his admonition the holy confessor 
remarked that “the foot that could kick a mother should be cut off.” The words so 

434 










the limb! His mother, sorely (£s$re&e 4 when sh#fteard the cause of such an act on the ~ 
part of her repentant son, in her frenzied grief, rushed to the saint, who at once, repairing 
to the house, and placing the severed parts together, the bones knit and the flesh around " v 
was healed ! 

In a month Padua was wholly reformed. It was the greatest spiritual achievement 
recorded in the missionary life of St. Anthony. 

With Easter the public preaching of the inspired Franciscan, ended in Padua. 
Having then given a retreat of some days to the Sisters of St. Clare he left for Ferrara, 
whence he returned to Bologna. Formerly he had been Lector of the Convent of his fj 
"Order in that city. As a memorial of the affection with which he ever regarded that 
community, he presented them with — what most of his earthly belongings he prized — his 'f 

manuscript commentary on the Psalms. (In 1737 it was discovered in the archives of 
the convent, having been missing for many years.) 

John Parenti, who had been appointed General of the Franciscans, now expressed a 
desire that our saint should visit Florence. During the Advent of 1228 our saint com- 
menced his apostolate there, preaching with unabated zeal for five successive months. 
During that time a celebrated merchant of the city died, and Anthony was requested to ' 
preach his funeral oration. Taking for his text the words, “Where thy treasure is, ( 
there also thy heart shall be.” Just as he opened his address he suddenly stopped — at the J-' 
moment he had a vision in which he saw the soul of the rich man buried in hell ! After a 
few seconds, turning towards the open bier, he exclaimed, “That rich man is dead; his V 
soul is in hell ! Go, search his coffers, and you will find his heart ! ” The amazed relatives 
bewildered, hastened to fulfil the orders of the preacher, and opening his money chest, in 
a heap of gold coins found the miser’s heart! Within his lifeless corpse its place was 
found replaced by a stone ! 

This dreadful example did more than any effort of the Franciscan to awaken the 
hearts of the Florentines to the truths of eternitv 


That day, in the presence of death, 
many rival families laid down their arms, and, clasping hands, renewed friendship which 
had been long rent by the enmities of civil strife. 

While the father of St. Anthony, Don Martin de Buglione, was living at Lisbon 
a murder was committed in the street close to his house and the corpse thrown into the 
garden, so that suspicion might fall upon him. The nobleman was in fact accused of the 
murder, thrust into prison, and a long and painful trial began, with every pros- 
pect of ending in his being condemned to death. St. Anthony was just then at the 
monastery in Padua working for the interests of that God for whose sake he had left 
everything dear to him. But God, in permitting this accusation, intended through it 
to make His beloved child known and-^orified^Jn-his^bwp laird.,, Informed during 
prayer of his father’s situation, he, in^spitd^f hisjpeing provincial, went at once, accord- 
ing to his usual custom, to beg permission fyj&m j^e superiors to absent himself from 
the monastery for a few q&ys^-' This granted, he started for Lisbon, convinced 



he would reach that city before sentence of death had been pronounced, meanwhile 
continuing his prayers for his unhappy parent. After journeying some distance 
he suddenly found himself transported to Lisbon, and bis fegktigs can be easily imagin 
on receiving this fresh favor from heaven. He at onceV^t to the place where the 
was sitting, and began to plead his poor father’s cause, irhe judges, although struck by 
the eloquence and cleverness of this strange Father, could not be convinced of the inno- 
cence of the accused. Anthony, repulsed by men, did not lose heart, and after a few 
moments spent in prayer, without asking leave or giving the judged; time to record? fjforr 
their astonishment, went to the cemetery, followed by the judges and an femi 
crowd of people, attracted hither by curiosity, and ordered the body of the mu 
man to be exhumed. As soon as the coffin was visible he then, in a loud voice, 


name of God, commanded the deceased to bear witness before the judges present as 
whether Don Martin de Buglione was his murderer or not. The corpse at once obeyed 
d sitting up, one hand raised and the other leaning against the ground, replied in a 
clear and sonorous voice: “Don Martin de Buglione is not my murderer.” The youth 
then entreated St. Anthony to give him the priestly absolution from excommunication 
which his sudden death had deprived him of. After receiving it he quietly laid himself 
down in his coffin, not to be disturbed again. As for St. Anthony, he suddenly dis- 
appeared from both judges and people, who cried aloud, as if awaking from a dream: “A 1 
miracle! a miracle! a great miracle!” It was thus that through the intervention of 
his son Don Martin de Buglione was declared innocent and restored to liberty. 

The reply, “I am come to save the innocent, and not to betray the guilty,” which 
St. Anthony made to the judges when asked who was then the real culprit, soon spread 
far and wide. He returned back to the monastery of Santa Maria dell’Arcella in the 
same miraculous manner after an absence of one day and two nights. 

During the Middle Ages, leprosy was very prevalent in Italy, and St. Bonaventure 
used often, in the antiphons, to implore the assistance of St. Anthony to obtain the cure 
of those attacked by this dire disease. 

The following incident proves how powerful his intercession was : A poor leper, hav- 
ing heard of the miracles worked by St. Anthony, determined, full of confidence in his 
intercession, to go and pray on his tomb. On his way to the church he met a soldier 
who scoffingly said to him: “Where are you going, you simpleton? Do you think the 
ashes and bones of that Brother can heal you? Go, tell him with my compliments, I 
am not afraid of death, and he can send me your leprosy if he likes.” The leper went 
his way, not heeding the words of the scoffer, but full of trust in the saint, and kneeling 
before his shrine soon fell into a beautiful sleep, during which he dreamt he saw St. 
Anthony, who Ktqdly said to him: “Arise, brother, you are cured; go, give your crutches 
to the soldier; he sadly needs them.” On awakening, he found it was no \\\usioti^^ky.- 
was perfectly curedj^lnd went at once, as lie had been bidden, to seek the soldier, whom 
he found covered with leprosy. Giving him his crutches, said: “I am cured; my 
saint has told me to give you my crutches.” - 

436 







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In this manner, two miracles were wrought: one of mercy, the other of chastisement. 
As for the soldier, the sight of this miracle touched his heart, and, full of repentance, he 
allowed himself to be carried to the shrine of the saint, hoping he would have compas- 
sion on him. Nor was he mistaken, for after his promising to lead a better life and become 
a good Catholic, he was also restored to health. He never forgot his promise, and 
became a most devout client of St. Anthony. 

Whilst at Brives God glorified His servant by making him work many miracles. 

A poor woman had gone to hear the saint preach, leaving her child alone, with no 
one to take care of him. During her absence the little one fell into a cauldron of boiling 
water, and on her return she found him playing unhurt in his dangerous bath. 

But a greater miracle than that was worked on another occasion. A mother having 
left her infant at home by itself, in order to go and hear the sermon, found him on her 
return dead in his cradle. In the midst of her grief she rushed back to the church and 
informed the saint of what had taken place “Go home,” he replied, “your son liveth,” 
making use of the same words as our Lord did when the father asked Him to cure his son. 
Full of confidence in St. Anthony, she hastened back, and to her great joy, found the 
baby up and playing with his little companions. 

It happened one day that the cook of the monastery at which the saint was staying 
had nothing to give the brethren to eat, and went and told Anthony of his difficulty. 
The saint at once went to see a pious lady he knew, begging her to have compassion on 
his brethren and send them a few cabbages. So great w r as the veneration in which he 
was held that she immediately, in spite of the inclemency of the weather, for it was 
pouring rain, ordered her servant to go into the garden and cut as many vegetables as 
the monks would require. The maid obeyed and took them to the convent. Notwith- 
standing the drenching rain, she returned home perfectly dry, and, full of admiration, 
said to her mistress: “When you want something done for Father Anthony or the other 
monks, do, pray, send me; I would not care if the weather was a thousand times worse 
than to-day; see, there is not a drop of rain on my clothes and my shoes are not even 
damp.” The lady, full of admiration, earnestly recommended the monks to the care 
of her only brother, a canon at Noblet, entreating him to assist them, as far as lay in 
his power, and to rest assured that God would reward him a hundredfold for his charity. 

St. Anthony was one day invited by a party of heretics to come to dine with them, 
in order, as they said, to give them the opportunity of laughing at his stupidity. He 
good-naturedly accepted their invitation. After sitting down to table a large bat, such 
as are found in Sicily, was served up to him? with the request to carve it. When, without 
being the least disconcerted, he began to do so, they could hardly refrain from laughing 
aloud; but soon their laughter was changed into astonishment, for hardly had the saint 
begun to carve the wretched bird before it was changed into a magnificent capon, emitting 
the most delicious smell. This miracle so completely changed their hearts that they not 
only acknowledged the power of the servant of God, but renounced their errors and were 






f * >fey_ £/.A 


y&n r ath£rs came anjp wanted to s*ee, hirru On hearing of their arrival, he immediately *= 
"ordered Ihem to be shown up to hi» ^oomy andUs^id to them: “ I have always longed for, / >^\ 
two of your religious to come and assist ro^pf^^ last moments, and God has heard 
prayer; do, pray, I entreat you, remain wf^t^yytill all is over.” Ii 

“ Most willingly, ” replied the elder of the two monks, whose hands were marked with /? 

the stigmata; ‘‘we are here for that purpose. I am Francis and my companion is \ 

Anthony. We have only come down from heaven in order to bring you back with us.” 
What a consolation for a man on his death-bed! 

While the saint was preaching at Puy a messenger suddenly appeared in the midst . 

of the congregation, calling out to a lady in a loud voice that her son had been foully | 

murdered by his enemies. Anthony, who easily discovered who the messenger was, . 

commanded silence by a motion of his hand, and, after consoling the lady by telling her * 
.that her son was never in better health in his life and that she would shortly see him, 
-added that the supposed messenger was no other than the evil one, who had only come 
in the hopes of disturbing the sermon and marring its effects. This proved perfectly ^ , 
true, as the pretended messenger at once vanished. The saintly preacher then availed ^ 
himself of the opportunity thus presented to him to warn his hearers against the arti- \ 
fices of the evil one. 

One day after his sermon, as the saint was hurrying back to his monastery, in order to ^ ~ 
avoid the applause of the multitude, he was stopped by a man carrying in his arms a 
little girl, both of whose feet were paralyzed, so that it was impossible for her to walk. 
Besides this she suffered from epileptic fits of extraordina^ violence. The unhappy 
father, full of confidence in the saint, determined to ask his assistance, and kneeling at 
his feet, holding the little one in his arms, implored him to bless her. Filled with pity for 
the unhappy parent, St. Anthony immediately did as requested. On his return home 
the poor man, certain his child was cured, placed her on the ground, making her stand, 
holding by the rail of a bench. Shortly afterward, when she began to take a few steps, 
he gave her a stick, but soon that was discarded, and Padovana, full of glee, was seen 
running about the room, perfectly cured. From that time she never suffered either 
from epilepsy or paralysis. 

/A These wonderful cures were almost of daily occurrence, so that the same thing could 
fykve been said of the saint as of our Lord: ‘‘He went about doing good and curing all.” 

3 Another wonderful miracle has been handed down to posterity. Whilst preaching 
on Easter Sunday in the cathedral at Montpellier the saint suddenly remembered he had 
to sing the Alleluia at the convent Mass. He paused for an instant and was silent, as if trying 
tchget breatn. But in reality he was singing the Alleluia in his own monastery, after 
wnich he resumed his sermon. Sucli3>ceurre: 


n^?es\jnaturally caused St. Anthony to be 


leld in great veneration by everbody^vv 

7 J -J' -' 43 ' 



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Another extraordinary occurrence took place at Bourges, in France, the representa- 
tion of which was long to be seen carved on one of the portals of the cathedral. 

Owing to the vast crowds who wanted to hear the saint preach, it was found impos- 
sible for any of the churches or squares within the city to contain them. It was therefore 
decided to hire a large field outside the city walls, and the people, headed by the canons 
and clergy, walked in procession to the place. Fortunately it was summer. When 
St. Anthony began his first sermon the weather was magnificent, but suddenly the sky 
became overcast, a high wind began to blow, dark clouds were seen floating in the air, 
and distant peals of thunder were heard. The immense crowd became alarmed and 
began to think of seeking shelter, when the saint, noticing the movement, quietly said 
to them: “ Do not be frightened, remain in your places; not one drop of rain will touch 
you.” Full of confidence in his words not one left, and St. Anthony continued his sermon 
in the midst of a most terrific hail and thunder-storm, and neither the saint nor his vast 
congregation received one drop of rain. Even the ground on which they stood was 
perfectly dry, just in the same manner as when ages before the Israelites passed through 
the waters of the Red Sea. 

At the sight of the miracle a hymn of praise and thanksgiving to that God whom the 
rain and winds obey burst forth from the lips of all those present, who were also filled 
with still greater respect and veneration toward one whom God so highly favored. 

Visiting Brescia, Milan, Verassa, and other cities, our saint ended his missionary 
journey in May, 1230. On the 25th of that month he had the happiness of witnessing 
the solemn translation of the relics of St. Francis to the new basilica, raised for their recep- 
tion, at Assisi. The solemnities being concluded, a chapter was held, in which many 
important questions were discussed relative to the full, future development of the 
seraphic institute. On this occasion Anthony besought the Minister-General to relieve 
him of every office of administration that he might devote himself exclusively to preach- 
ing. His request was not only granted, but also, the saint was permitted to select his 
place of future residence. He chose Padua. The announcement was, we need hardly 
say, the cause of intense delight to the citizens of the favored city. In the autumn of 
that year he returned and was received with unbounded joy and reverence by the Bishop, 
clergy and people. 

Scarcely had the saint taken up his abode in Padua when a dire calamity threatened 
to befall the city. The northern provinces of Italy had been invaded by the arms of the 
German Emperor, Frederick II, under the command of his son-in-law, Ezzelino, a man 
of bloodthirsty and merciless disposition. Brescia, Vicenza and Verona fell into his 
hands and were delivered up to massacre and pillage. Marching on in the direction of 
Padua, the invaders attacked Castelfonte, and having invested it, carried off several 
hostages — amongst them the grandson of the lord of the place. Filled with terror, the 
citizens of the threatened city besought the intercession of Anthony, whose miraculous 
aid they had reason to implore now more than ever. Without a moment’s hesitation 
the saint set out for Verona, where Ezzelino was then staying, and fearlessly presented 

439 


r7 





the appearance of 
if his Order. Still 


;ent blood? The sword 


'ould be swiftly borne 


ast time on this beloved 
his hands, exclaiming — 


himself before him. The attendants of the general 
the ambassador from Padua, attired, as he was, 
more did they marvel when they heard liim address the pro 

“ O cruel tyrant! How long will you qoptirtue to shed innC 
of God will fall upon you and terrible will-^b Hi& judgment.” 

The words of Anthony filled Vme bystanders with astonishment, which they felt 
would cost the speaker his life. But no; the haughty Ezzelino, fixing his eyes on the 
friar, grew suddenly pale, and, trembling, cast himself at his feet! He promised to 
withdraw his army and also to amend his wicked life. At the request of the saint he set 
free the child-hostage of the lord of Castelfonte with many other prisoners. When 
questioned by his soldiers as to this unwonted act of mercy on his part, Ezzelino declared 
the face of Anthony gleamed with a light when he was addressing him, while from his 
eyes flashed arrows of flame, and that for a the moment he felt as if on the brink of hell ! 

When the result of the interview became known at Padua the joy and thanksgiving 
of the people were unbounded. The saint, on his triumphant return, was hailed as the 
“Deliverer” of the city. Availing of the opportune moment when, as we may say, the 
very heart of Padua was at his feet, Anthony determined to reap a fresh harvest of souls. 

At the request of the people who were so devoted to him, he gladly consented once more 
to deliver a course of sermons, which he continued from February 5, 1231, till the Pentecost 
of that year. As happened during the Lent of two years before, graces and miracles 
were, so to speak, showered on the grateful city. This may be said to be the last display /r s 

of heavenly oratory and miraculous power on the part of the wonder-working son of St. '• 

Francis. At the close of the course of sermons, worn out with fatigue, he accepted the 
kind invitation of the lord of Castelfonte (whose grandson his words had ransomed at \ - 
Verona) to take a little rest. This pious nobleman, who had enjoyed a high position in 
the army, was so impressed by the preaching of the saint during his first mission at 
Padua, that he abandoned his profession to enter the spiritual ranks of the Third Order 
of St. Francis. During those days of rest it was revealed to our saint that his end was 
approaching. He was as yet in the bloom of life, having but just passed his thirty-sixth 
year. His face, comely and beautiful, looked younger even than his age; but his frame, 
worn out with excessive labor, could not much longer retain the glorious spirit that had 
so long yearned for union with its Creator. A solitary spot in a remote place was set at 
■Akvhis disposal by his noble guest, who erected for him a neat little hut beneath a wide- 
^e>*spreading tree on the mountain side overlooking Padua. For a few weeks he abandoned 
himself to prayer and preparation for his last hour. As he looked down upon his beloved 
city, with its glittering domes and marble palaces, its spreading vineyards in the distance, 
and its fragrant gardens amid which he was soon to close 1 fyw eyes forever — sadness, we 




are told, would steal upon him, till, in ecstacy, his conter 
to that more lovely and eternal city beyond the skies. 

A few days before his death, as he looked 
scene, bathed in the glory of the May-tide 


“Blessed be thou, O Padua! for the beauty of thy site! Blessed be thou for the wealth 
of thy fields! Blessed be thou for the honor with which heaven will crown thee!” 
Wishing to breathe his last in the convent of the city, he was borne in the arms of his 
companions from his cell; and as he grew weaker on the journey, he was advised to rest 
at the Hospice of the Poor Clares just outside the gates. For a little time his strength 
revived, ^when he besought his brethren to administer to him the last rites of the Church. 
Then a momentary brightness, we are told, came upon him, and in a clear voice he sang 
his favorite hymn, “O! Gloriosa Domina,” with unfaltering accents, to the end. The 
flame of life soon began to flicker, and in ecstacy, fixing his eyes on heaven, the saint 
exclaimed, “ I behold my God,” and calmly expired, Friday, June 13, 1231. 

On the following Tuesday after his death his coffin was borne by the burghers and 
members of the University of Padua, followed by the Bishops, clergy, and brethren of 
St. Francis, to the Church of St. Mary in the city. The procession was the occasion of 
many miracles. Those afflicted with infirmities of every kind were restored by touching 
the coffin of the saint. 

His tomb almost immediately became a centre of pilgrimages from every part of 
I tal}', and so many favors were wrought through his intercession that a petition w r as 
presented for his canonization by the Bishop of Padua. Eleven months after Anthony’s 
death, on Whit-Sunday, May 30, 1232, the Sovereign Pontiff pronounced the decree 
enrolling him among the saints of the Church 

A more glorious day Padua had not seen before, nor has it witnessed since, and 
among the miracles with which Heaven testified its rejoicings, it is told that in Anthony’s 
native city of Lisbon, far away, the bells of every church pealed out their gladness, 
unswung by human hands ! 

We have finished the task assigned to us by condensing in these few leaves the 
history of a life which, were our pen to yield to the wishes of our heart, would run into 
endless pages. 

May those of our readers to whom the name of St. Anthony has hitherto been 
familiar as “the finder of lost treasures” come oftener to his shrines in quest of treasures 
incomparably more precious than earthly things — graces neglected, and ofttimes lost, on 
the devious road of life. 

Prayer to the Infant Jesus in the Arms of St. Anthony. 

O sweet infant Jesus! Thou best and only hope of afflicted souls, I prostrate myself 
at Thy Feet, and beseech Thee, through the immeasurable love and grace with which 
Thou didst visit Thy blessed servant, St. Anthony, when Thou didst comfort and embrace 
him, to come to me at his intercession, and let me taste how sweet Thy presence is in the 
souls that trust in Thee. Amen. 






Prayer of St. Anthony to the Blessed Virgin. 


O Mary ! Virgin before the divine Birth, guard my body and soul. Hail Mary, etc. 

0 Mary! Virgin during the divine Birth, guard my body and soul. Hail Mary, etc. 

O Mary! Virgin after the divine Birth, guard my body and soul. Hail Mary, etc. 

(Indulgence: One hundred days. Sacred Congregation, 1895.) 

Novena to St. Anthony. 

We salute thee, St. Anthony, lily of purity, ornament and glory of Christianity. We 
salute thee, great Saint, cherub in wisdom, and seraph of divine love. We rejoice at the 
favors God has so liberally bestowed on thee. In humility and confidence we entreat 
thee to help us, for we know that God has given thee charity and piety as well as power. 
Then, behold our distress, our anxiety, our fears concerning .... We ask it of thee by 
the love thou didst feel for the divine Child, when He loaded thee with caresses. Tell 
Him of our wants. Remember thy rapture when thou didst clasp Him to thy heart, 
when thou didst press thy cheek to His, and didst listen to His divine whispers. One 
sigh from thee whom He honors will crown our success, and fill us with joy. Think of 
this and hear our prayer. Obtain for us all that we desire, and we will publish thy great- 
ness, thereby to glorify Him, by whom thou wert so highly favored. Amen. 

St. Anthony, loved and honored by the divine Child, Jesus, obtain what we ask of 

thee. 

St. Anthony, powerful in word and work, obtain what we ask of thee. 

St. Anthony, attentive to those who invoke thee, obtain what we ask of thee. 

Prayer to St. Anthony for the Recovery of Lost Graces. 

O great and faithful friend of the Lord ! who, by the great purity of thy heart, didst 
merit to see and converse with Him even in this life, thou to whom He has granted, 
according to the firm belief of the faithful, the gift of recovering for those who invoke 
thee the precious gifts which they had lost, obtain for us (or for N.) by thy prayers and 
merits, all the holy friendship and union with God which we should have if we had always 
been faithful to Him. Amen. 

ASPIRATION. 

St. Anthony, obtain for N. N. the virtue of which (he or she) has lost, 

and the grace of true repentance. 

St. Anthony’s Blessing. 

“ Behold the Cross of the Lord! Fly, ye powers of darkness, the Lion of the tribe of 
Juda, the Root of David, has conquered. Alleluia!” 

One hundred days’ indulgence once a day. Leo XIII. 21st May, 1892. 

442 


to; 



, JPrayer to St. Anthony for Peace of Mind. 

,/ Mdst dear and faithful servant of Christ, blessed St. Anthony, to__ = whom God has 
granted such favors that, through thy intercession, lost temporal gd$ds are recovered 1 
pray^for me, a sinner, that I may acquire and preserve peace of mind, with light mid; 
knowledge to discern good from evil and truth from error, so that being deliveredSfrqm 
all evils, scruples, darkness, and uneasiness of mind and conscience, I may fai^hndly 
serve my God and Saviour, who is worthy of all honor and glory, with peace of mmrn 
purity of conscience, and justice of life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

It is generally believed that one of the most acceptable devotions that can be offerecr 
to St. Anthony — to obtain any favor, or in thanksgiving for a favor received — is the 
recital of one, or three Creeds. To these many of his clients add the aspiration — 

St. Anthony, beloved of God and man, pray for us. 


Sayings of St. Anthony of Padua 


How many Christians weep over temporal misfortunes, and are insensible to the 
loss of their souls. One is horrified in finding himself near a dead body, yet delights 
daily in the society of sinners . — Sermons for Lent. 

God sends us afflictions for various reasons: ist, to increase our merits; 2nd. to 
preserve in us the grace of God; 3rd, to punish us for our sins; 4th, to show forth His 
glory and other attributes . — Sermons for Lent. 

We must not fear the corrections we receive here below, but it is well to think often 
of the accusations that will be brought against us on the day of judgment. 

God loves to come into humble and compassionate souls, into souls that are full of 
discretion, that are penitent and devout; but He abandons cold and callous hearts, 
hearts that seek their own ease, that shrink from the smallest sacrifice, that show no love 
for prayer or meditation . — Sermons for Lent. 

However wise a man may be, he ought to seek counsel and direction from the 
ministers of God . — Sermons for Lent. 

Use your ears oftener than your tongue. One often repents of having spoken and/ 
scarcely ever of having been silent. 

Charity is a fire; but three things can extinguish it, the wind of pride, the water of 
gluttony and luxury, and the thick smoke of avarice. 

^ Nothing is more certain than death, and nothing more uncertain than the day and 
hour of our death. 

The great folly of worldlings consists in putting the thought of death far from them, 
and acting as though they were to live forever. 

Envy is a very fatal evil ;.JvhpajCfiaS possession of a soul it troubles it, blinds it and 
carries it into all kinds, .pf Mcd^se^^elf-ldf^s. mother of envy, and love of our 
neighbor combats and destroys it. - f ; 1 

443 ( ^ 



When man follows the inspirations of grace he finds liberty and peace, 
we may say that fear renders him free and that love enslaves him. 

The sinner uses all his senses to offer sacrifices to the devil. He must purify them in 
the bitterness of penance if he wish to be restored to God’s favor. 

Penance is the myrrh which uproots bad habits and preserves us from spiritual 
corruption. 

None among the blessed is so blessed, none among the happy so happy, as he who 
alwavs bears God in his heart. 

How to make a Novena to St. Anthony. 

1 . Visit an altar or shrine of the Saint on nine consecutive Tuesdays. 

2. Recite the Miraculous “Responsory” or other prayers at choice, in honor of St. 
Anthony. 

3. Go to Confession and Communion on the nine Tuesdays, or, at least, on the first, 
fifth and last Tuesday. 

4. If your means allow it, have a Mass offered in honor of the Saint during the 
Novena. 

Should you prefer to make a Novena of nine continuous days, like any other Novena, 
recite the above prayer, receiving the Sacraments on the first and last days. 

When you have lost anything recite the miraculous Responsory, or the prayer for the 
recovery of things lost. 

If you wish to be a special client of St. Anthony, observe every Tuesday and the 
month of February, in his honor; and join his Association. 

It is generally believed that one of the most acceptable devotions that can be offered 
to St. Anthony — to obtain any favor, or in thanksgiving for a favor received — is the 
recital of one, or three Creeds. To these many of his clients add the aspiration — 

St. Anthony, beloved of God and man, pray for us. 

Miraculous Responsory of St. Anthony. 

BY ST. BONAVENTURE, 

Let those wno seek for miracles invoke the glorious St. Anthony; at his word all 
fcvils disappear, death and error, demons and leprosy ; the sick rise up restored to perfect 
health. His word and presence calm the troubled sea, and break the captive’s chain, 
lost things are found, and old and young never appeal to him in vain. Perils are averted, 
necessities cease. If proof be needed of the truth, hearken to the words of the people 
of Padua, eye-witnesses of these wondrous deeds. 

100 days Indulgence. 

Plenary once a month. 







Lead, Kindly Light 

Faith and Private Judgment 
Faith and Doubt 

God’s Will the End of Life 


BY 


CARDINAL JOHN HENRY NEWMAN 



Lead, Kindly Light. 


( Written by Cardinal Newman before he became a Catholic.) 

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’ encircling gloom, 

Lead Thou me on; 

The night is dark, and I am far from home, 

Lead Thou me on; 

Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see 

The distant scene; one step enough for me. 

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou 
Shouldst lead me on; 

I loved to choose and see the path; but now 
Lead Thou me on. 

I loved the garish day; and, spite of fears, 

Pride ruled my will; remember not passed years. 

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still 
Will lead me on, 

O’er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till 
The night is gone, 

And with the morn those angel faces smile, 

Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 


CARDINAL NEWMAN. 


Cardinal John Henry Newman, D. D., was born in London, in 1801. In the year 
1824 he was ordained clergyman of the English Church. In 1845 he was admitted to 
the Catholic Church, and shortly afterwards ordained to the priesthood, in Rome. In 
1848 he returned to England, and established a branch of the Congregation of the 
Oratory of St. Philip Neri, of which he subsequently became Superior. In the year 1852 
he was appointed rector of the Catholic University established in Dublin, and in 1879 
created Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. His Eminence died in 1890. 


447 




J adgment 


Private 


w&W F baseless those religions are; what poor attractions they have, 

J Wjj -Jjjil I. and how little they have to say for themselves. Multitudes,/ 

v fi s h's indeed, are of no religion at all; and you may not be surprise^ 

that those who cannot even bear the thought of God, should 
not feel drawn to His Church; numbers, too, hear very little about Catholicism, or a 
great deal of abuse and calumny against it, and you may not be surprised that they do 
not all at once become Catholics : but what may fairly surprise those who enjoy the fullness 
of Catholic blessings is, that those who see the Church ever so distantly, who see even 
gleams or the faint lustre of her majesty, nevertheless should not be so far attracted 
by what they see as to seek to see more, — should not at least put themselves in the way 
to be led onto the Truth, which of course is not ordinarily recognized in its divine author- 
ity except by degrees. Moses, when he saw the burning bush, turned aside to see “that 
great sight;’’ Nathanael, though he thought no good could come out of Nazareth, at 
least followed Philip to Christ, when Philip said to him, “Come and see”; but the mul- 
titudes about us see and hear, in some measure, surely, — many in ample measure, — 
and yet are not persuaded thereby to see and hear more, are not moved to act upon their 
knowledge. Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not; they are contented to 
remain as they are; they are not drawn to inquire, or at least not drawn on to 
embrace. 

Many explanations may be given of this difficulty; I will proceed to suggest to you 
one, which will sound like a truism, but yet has a meaning in it. Men do not become 
Catholics, because they have not faith. Now you may ask me, how this is saying more 
than that men do not believe the Catholic Church because they do not believe it; which 
is saying nothing at all. Our Lord, for instance, says, “ He who cometh to me shall not 
hunger, and he who believeth in me shall never thirst;” — to believe then and to come 

44S 




mmmui'i 


are the same thing. If they had faith, of course they would join the Church, for the 
very meaning, the very exercise of faith, is joining the Church. But I mean something 
more than this: faith is a state of mind, it is a particular mode of thinking and acting 
which is exercised, always indeed toward God, but in various ways. Now I mean to say, 
that the mulititude of men in this country have not this habit or character of mind. 
We could conceive, for instance, their believing in their own religions, even if they did 
not believe in the Church ; this would be faith, though a faith improperly directed; but 
they do not believe even their own religions; they do not believe in anything at 
all. It is a definite defect in their minds; as we might say that a person had not the 
virtue of meekness, or of liberality, or of prudence, quite independently of this or that 
exercise of the virtue, so there is such a religious virtue as faith, and there is such a 
defect as the absence of it. Now I mean to say that the great mass of men in this country 
have not this particular virtue called faith, have not this virtue at all. As a man might 
be without eyes or without hands, so they are without faith; it is a distinct want or fault 
in their soul; and what I say is, that since they have not this faculty of religious belief 
no wonder they do not embrace that which cannot really be embraced without it. 
They do not believe any teaching at all in any true sense; and therefore they do not 
believe the Church in particular. 

Now, in the first place, what is faith? It is assenting to a doctrine as true, which we 
do not see, which we cannot prove, because God, who cannot lie, says it is true. And 
further than this, since God says it is true, not with His own voice, but by the voice of 
His messengers, it is assenting to what man says, not simply viewed as a man, but to 
what he is commissioned to declare, as a messenger, prophet, or ambassador from God. 
In the ordinary course of this world we account things true either because we see them 
or because we can perceive that they follow and are deducible from what we do see ; 
that is, we gain truth by sight or by reason, not by faith. You will say, indeed, that 
we accept on the word of others, a number of things which we cannot prove or see, cer- 
tainly; but then we accept what they say only as the word of man; and we have not 
commonly that absolute and unreserved confidence in them, which nothing can shake. 
We know that man is open to mistake, and we are always glad to find some confirmation 
of what he says, from other quarters, in any important matter; or we receive his infor- 
mation with negligence and unconcern, as something of little consequence, as a matter 
of opinion; or, if we act upon it, it is as a matter of prudence, thinking it best and safest 
to do so. We take his word for what it is worth, and we use it either according to our 
necessity, or its probability. We keep the decision in our own hands and reserve to 
ourselves the right of reopening the question wherever we please. This is very different 
from divine faith; he who believes that God is true, and that this is His word, which 
He has committed to man, has no doubt at all. He is as certain that the doctrine taught 
is true, as that God is true; and he is certain, because God is true, because God has spoken, 
not because he sees its truth or ca-n prove its truth. That is, faith has two peculiarities — 
it is most certain, decided, positive, immovable in its assent, and it gives this assent 

449 



not because it sees with the eye, or with the reason, but because it receives the tidings 
from one who comes from God. 

That is what faith was in the time of the Apostles, as no one can deny; and what 
it was then, it must be now, else it ceases to be the same thing. I say, it certainly was 
this in the Apostles’ time, for you know they preached to the world that Christ was the 
Son of God, that He was born of a Virgin, that He had ascended on high, that He would 
come again to judge all, the living and the dead. Could the world see all this? could it 
prove it? how then were men to receive it? why did so many embrace it? on the word of 
the Apostles, who were, as their powers showed, messengers from God. Men were told 
to submit their reason to a living authority. Moreover, whatever an Apostle said, his 
converts were bound to believe; when they entered the Church, they entered it in order 
to learn. The Church was their teacher; they did not come to argue, to examine, to 
pick and choose, but to accept whatever was put before them. No one doubts no one 
can doubt this, of those primitive times. A Christian was bound to take without 
doubting all that the Apostles declared to be revealed; if the Apostles spoke, he had to 
yield an internal assent of his mind ; it would not be enough to keep silence, it would not 
be enough not to oppose: it was not allowable to credit in a measure, it was not allowable 
to doubt. No; if a convert had his own private thoughts of what was said, and only kept 
them to himself, if he made some secret opposition to the teaching, if he waited for 
further proof before he believed it, this would be a proof that he did not think the Apostles 
were sent from God to reveal His will; it would be a proof that he did not in any true 
sense believe at all. Immediate, implicit submission of the mind was, in the lifetime 
of the Apostles, the only, the necessary, token of faith; then there was no room whatever 
for what is now called private judgment. No one could say, “ I will choose my religion 
for myself, I will believe this, I will not believe that; I will pledge myself to nothing; 
I will believe just as long as I please and no longer; -what I believe to-day I will reject 
to-morrow, if I choose. I will believe what the Apostles have as yet said, but I will not 
believe what they shall say in time to come.” No, either the Apostles were from God, 
or they were not; if they were, everything that they preached was to be believed by 
their hearers ; if they were not, there was nothing for their hearers to believe. To believe 
a little, to believe more or less, was impossible ; it contradicted the very notion of believing ; 
if one part was to be believed, every part was to be believed; it was an absurdity to 
believe one thing and not another; for the word of the Apostles, which made the one 
true, made the other true too; they were nothing in themselves, they were all things, 
they were an infallible authority, as coming from God. The world had either to become 
Christian, or to let it alone; there was no room for private tastes and fancies, no room 
for private judgement. 

Now surely this is quite clear from the nature of the case; but is also clear from the 
words of Scripture. ‘‘We give thanks to God,” says St. Paul, ‘‘without ceasing, 
because when ye have received from us the word of hearing, which is of God, ye received 
it, not as the word of men, but (as it is indeed) the word of God.” Here you see St. Paul 

450 


o 



A 


expresses what I have said above, that the word comes from God, that it is spoken hy- 
men, that it must be received, not as man’s word, but as God’s word. So in another 
place he says, “He. who despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God, who hath 
also given in us His Holy Spirit.” Our Saviour had made a declaration already, “He 
that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that 
despiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me.” Accordingly St. Peter on the day of Pente- 
cost said, “ Men of Israel, hear these words, God hath raised up this Jesus, whereof we are 
witnesses. Let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God hath made this 
Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” At another time he said, 
“We ought to obey God, rather than man; we are witnesses of these things, and so is 
the Holy Ghost, whom God has given to all who obey Him.” And again, “ He commanded 
us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He (Jesus) who hath been appointed 
by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.” And you know that the persistent 
declaration of the first preachers was, “Believe and thou shalt be saved” they do not 
say, “ Prove our doctrine by your own reason, ” nor “wait till you see before you believe ;” 
but, “believe without seeing and without proving, because our word is not our own, 
but God’s word.” Men might indeed use their reason in inquiring into the pretensions 
of the Apostles ; they might inquire whether or not they did miracles ; they might inquire 
whether they were predicted in the Old Testament as coming from God; but when they 
had ascertained this fairly in whatever way, they were to take all the Apostles said for 
granted without proof, they were to exercise their faith, they were to be saved by hearing. 
Hence, as you perhaps observed, St. Paul significantly calls the revealed doctrine “the 
word of hearing,” in the passage I quoted; men came to hear, to accept, to obey, not to 
criticise what was said; and in accordance with this he asks elsewhere, “ How shall they 
believe Him, whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” 

Now, consider, are not these two states or acts of mind quite distinct from each 
other; — to believe simply what a living authority tells you, and to take a book, such as 
Scripture, and to use it as you please, to master it, that is, to make yourself the master of 
it, to interpret it for yourself, and to admit just what you choose to see in it, and nothing 
more? Are not these two procedures distinct in this, that in the former you submit, 
in the latter you judge? At this moment I am not asking you which is the better, 
I am not asking whether this or that is practicable now, but are they not two ways of 
taking up a doctrine, and not one? is not submission quite contrary to judging? Now, 
is it not certain that faith in the time of the Apostles consisted in submitting? and is it 
not certain that it did not consist in judging for one’s self? It is in vain to say that the 
man who judges from the Apostles’ writings, does submit to those writings in the first 
instance, and therefore has faith in them; else why should he refer to them at all? There 
is, I repeat, an essential difference between the act of submitting to a living oracle, and 
to his written words ; in the former case there is no appeal from the speaker, in the latter 
the final decision remains with the reader. Consider how different is the confidence 


C\ 




451 


with which you report another’s words in his presence and in his absence. If he be 
absent, you boldly say that he holds so and so, or said so and so; but let him come into 
the room in the midst of the conversation, and your tone is immediately changed. It 
is then, “ I think I have heard you say something like this, or what I took to be this;” 
or you modify considerably the statement or the fact to which you originally pledged 
him, dropping one-half of it for safety-sake, or retrenching the most startling portions 
of it; and then after all you wait with some anxiety to see whether he will accept any 
portion of it at all. The same sort of process takes place in the case of the written 
document of a person now dead. I can fancy a man magisterially expounding St. Paul’s 
Epistle to the Galatians or to the Ephesians, who would be better content with the 
writer’s absence than his sudden appearance among us ; lest the Apostle should take his 
own meaning out of his commentator’s hands and explain it for himself. In a word, 
though he says he has faith in St. Paul’s writings, he confessedly has no faith in St. Paul ; 
and though he may speak much about truth as found in Scripture, he has no wish at all 
to be like one of these Christians whose names and deeds occur in it. 

I think I may assume that this virtue, which was exercised by the first Christians, 
is not known at all among Protestants now; or at least if there are instances of it, it is 
exercised toward those, I mean their own teachers and divines, who expressly disclaim 
that they are fit objects of it, and who exhort their people to judge for themselves. 
Protestants, generally speaking, have not faith in the primitive meaning of that word; 
this is clear from what I have been saying, and here is a confirmation of it. If men 
believed now as they did in the times of the Apostles, they could not doubt nor change. 
No one can doubt whether a word spoken by God is to be believed, of course it is ; whereas 
any one who is modest and humble, may easily be brought to doubt of his own inferences 
and deductions. Since men nowadays deduce from Scripture instead of believing a 
teacher, you may expect to see them waver about; they will feel the force of their own 
deductions more strongly at one time than at another, they will change their minds 
about them, or perhaps deny them altogether; whereas this cannot be, while a man has 
faith, that is, belief that what a preacher says to him comes from God. This is what 
St. Paul especially insists on, telling us that Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and 
teachers, are given us that ‘‘we may all attain to unity of faith,” and, on the contrary, in 
order ‘‘that we be not as children tossed to and fro, and carried about by every gale of 
doctrine.” Now, in matter of fact, do not men in this day change about in their religious 
opinions without any limit? Is not this, then, a proof that they have not that faith 
which the Apostles demanded of their converts? If they had faith, they would not 
change. Once believe that God has spoken, and you are sure He cannot unsay what He 
has already said ; He cannot deceive ; He cannot change ; vou have received it once for 
all ; you will believe it ever. 

Such is the only rational, consistent account of faith; but so far are Protestants 
from professing it, that they laugh at the very notion of it. They laugh at the notion 
itself of men pinning their faith (as they express themselves) upon Pope or Council; they 


452 




think it simply superstitious 
Church believes, and to asserit= 
doctrine. That is, they laugh aTd 


yy ' 

lar/ow’^rvit^^d, ss to believe just what t 

tever- she^sjjajbs^y m time to come on matters of> 
re’Js&re-notiqrj.'bf doing what Christians undeniably 
did in the time of the Apostles. Observe they do not merely ask whether the Catholic 
Church has a claim to teach, has authority, has the gifts ; — this is a reasonable question ; — 
no, they think that the very state of mind, which such a claim involves in those who 
admit it, namely, the disposition to accept without reserve or question, that this is 
slavish. They call it priestcraft to insist on this surrender of the reason, and superstition 
to make it. That is, they quarrel with the very state of mind which all Christians had 
in the age of the Apostles; nor is there any doubt (who will deny it?) that those who 
thus boast of not being led blindfold, of judging for themselves, of believing just as much 
and just as little as they please, of hating dictation and so forth, would have found it an 
extreme difficulty to hang on the lips of the Apostles, had they lived at their date, or 
rather would have simply resisted the sacrifice of their own liberty of thought, would 
have thought life eternal too dearly purchased at such a price, and would have died in 
their unbelief. And they would have defended themselves on the plea that it was 
absurd and childish to ask them to believe without proof, to bid them give up their 
education, their intelligence, and their science, and, in spite of all those difficulties which 
reason and sense find in the Christian doctrine, in spite of its mysteriousness, its obscurity, 
its strangeness, its unacceptableness, its severity, to require them to surrender themselves 
to the teaching of a few unlettered Galileans, or a learned, indeed, but fanatical Pharisee. 
This is what they would have said then; and if so, is it wonderful they do not become 
Catholics now? The simple account of their remaining as they are, is, that they lack one 
thing, — they have not faith; it is a state of mind, it is a virtue, which they do not recog- 
nize to be praiseworthy, which they do not aim at possessing. 

What they feel now is just what both Jew and Greek felt before them in the time of 
the Apostles, and what the natural man has felt ever since. The great and wise men 
of the day looked down upon faith, then as now, as if it were unworthy the dignity of 
human nature. “See your vocation, brethren, that there are not” among you “many 
wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but the foolish things of 
the world hath God chosen to confound the strong, and the mean things of the world, 
and the things that are contemptible, hath God chosen, and things that are not, that He 
might destroy the things that are, that no flesh might glory in His sight.” Hence the 
same Apostle speaks of “the foolishness of preaching.” Similar to this is what our 
Lord had said in His prayer to the Father: “ I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and 
earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them unto little ones.” Now is it not plain that men of this day have just inherited the 
feelings and traditions of these falsely wise and fatal ly pru dgTLt persons in our Lord’s 
day? They have the same obstruction im) thqj> 4 r€artsto eifteringrhe Catholic Church, 
which Pharisees and Sophists hajd^bqf^^^^enK it goes against them to believe her 
doctrine, not so much for v^ptTof^Videncemiat £rie is from God, as because, if so, they 

453 





Vr/7/r, 


characteristic of the Catholic teaching and of the Cathollteijlacher is to them a preliminary ^ 
objection to their becoming Catholics, so great as to throw into the shade any argument, 

■ however strong, which is producible in behalf of the mission of those teachers and the 
origin of that teaching. In short, they have not faith. 

They have not in them the principle of faith; and I repeat, it is nothing to the 
purpose to urge that at least they firmly believe Scripture to be the word of God. In 
truth, it is much to be feared that their acceptance of Scripture itself is nothing better 
than a prejudice or inveterate feeling impressed on them when they were children^ 'K'jjfc 
proof of it is this : that, while they profess to be so shocked at Catholic miracles, and are 


any effort of mind. How, then, do these Catholics accept them? By faith? They say, 
“ God is true, and every man a liar.” How come Protestants so easily to receive them? 
By faith? Nay, I conceive that in most cases there is no submission of the reason at all; 
simply they are so familiar with the passages in question, that the narrative presents no 
difficulties to their imagination; they have nothing to overcome. If, however, they are 
led to contemplate these passages in themselves, and to try them in the balance of 
probability, and to begin to question about them, as will happen when their intellect is 
cultivated, then there is nothing to bring them back to their former habitual or mechan- 
ical belief; they know nothing of submitting to authority, that is, they know’ nothing of 
faith; for they have no authority to submit to. They either remain in a state of doubt 
without any great trouble of mind, or they go on to ripen into utter disbelief on the 
subjects in question, though they may say nothing about it. Neither before they 
doubt, nor when they doubt, is there any token of the presence in them of a power 
subjecting reason to the word of God. No; what looks like faith, is a mere hereditary 
persuasion, not a personal principle; it is a habit which they have learned in the nursery, 
which has never changed into anything higher, and which is scattered and disappears, 
like a mist, before the light, such as it is, of reason. If, however, there are ..Protestants, 
who are not in qne or other of these two states, either of credulity or of dodbt, but wlio 
firmly believe in spite of, all difficulties, they certainly have some claim to be considered, 
under the influencdbf ffiith ; but there is nothing to show that such persons, where they 
are found, are not in the way to become Catftolics, and perhaps they are already called 
so by their friends, showing in their own examples the logical, indisputable connection 
which exists between possessing faith and joining the Church. 

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If, then, faith be now the same faculty of mind, the same sort of habit or act, 
which it was in the days of the Apostles, I have made good what I set about show- 
ing. But it must be the same; it cannot mean two things; the word cannot 
have changed its meaning. Either say that faith is not necessary now at all, or take it to 
be what the Apostles meant by it, but do not say that you have it, and then show me 
something quite different, which you have put in the place of it. In the Apostles’ days 
the peculiarity of faith was submission to a living authority; this is what made it so 
distinctive; this is what made it an act of submission at all; this is what destroyed 
private judgment in matters of religion. If you will not look out for a living authority, 
and will bargain for private judgment, then say at once that you have not Apostolic 
faith. And in fact you have it not; the bulk of this nation has it not; confess you have 
it not; and then confess that this is the reason why you are not Catholics: You are not 
Catholics because you have not faith. Why do not blind men see the sun? because they 
have no eyes ; in like manner it is vain to discourse upon the beauty, the sanctity, the 
sublimity of the Catholic doctrine and worship, where men have no faith to accept it as 
divine. They may confess its beauty, sublimity, and sanctity, without believing it; 
they may acknowledge that the Catholic religion is noble and majestic; they may be 
struck with its wisdom, they may admire its adaptation to human nature, they may 
be penetrated by its tender and winning bearing, they may be awed by its consistency. 
But to commit themselves to it, that is another matter; to choose it for their portion, 
to say with the favored Moabitess, “Whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go! and where 
thou shalt dwell, I will dwell; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God,” this 
is the language of faith. A man may revere, a man may extol, who has no tendency 
whatever to obey, no notion whatever of professing. And this often happens in fact: 
men are respectful to the Catholic religion; they acknowledge its services to mankind, 
they encourage it and its professors; they like to know them, they are interested in 
hearing of their movements, but they are not, and never will be, Catholics. They will 
die as they have lived, out of the Church, because they have not possessed themselves 
of that faculty by which the Church is to be approached. Catholics who have not 
studied them or human nature, will wonder they remain where they are; nay, they 
themselves, alas for them! will sometimes lament they cannot become Catholics. They 
will feel so intimately the blessedness of being a Catholic, that they will cry out, “O, 
what would I give to be a Catholic! O, that I could believe what I admire! but I do 
not, and I can no more believe merely because I wish to do so ,than I can leap over a 
mountain. I should be much happier were I a Catholic; but I am not; it is no use 
deceiving myself ; I am what I am; I revere, I cannot accept.” 

■ Oh, deplorable state! deplorable because it is utterly and absolutely their own 
fault, and because such great stress is laid in Scripture, as they know, on the necessity 
of faith for salvation. Faith is there made the foundation and commencement of all 
acceptable obedience. It is described as the “ argument ” or “ proof of things not seen ” ; 
by faith men have understood that Godq^tliat He made the world, that He is a rewarder 


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ssibi^J^ptease God;” “by faith we stand;” “by faith 
overcome When our Lord gave to the Apostles their 

commission to preach all over tlpd^orM^^gkcontinued, “ He that believeth and i 
baptized, shall be saved; but he That not, shall be condemned.” And H‘ 

declared to Nicodemus, “ He that believeWmohe Son, is not judged; but he that doth 
not believe is already judged, because he believeth not in the Name of the Only-begotten 
Son of God.” He said to the Pharisees, “ If you believe not that I am He, ye shall die 
in your sins.” To the Jews, “Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.” And 
you may recollect that before His miracles, He commonly demands faith of the supplicant ; 
“All things are possible,” He says, “to him that believeth;” and we find in one place 
“ He could not do any miracle,” on account of the unbelief of the inhabitants. 

Has faith changed its meaning, or is it less necessary now? Is it not still what it 
was in the Apostles’ day, the very characteristic of Christianity, the special instrument 
of renovation, the first disposition for justification, one out of the three theological 
virtues? God might have renewed us by other means, by sight, by reason, by love, but 
He has chosen to “purify our hearts by faith;” it has been His will to select an 
instrument which the world despises, but which is of immense power. He preferred it, 
in His infinite wisdom, to every other; and if men have it not, they have not the very 
element and rudiment out of which are formed, on which are built, the Saints and Servants 
of God. And they have it not, they are living, they are dying, without the hopes, without 
the aids, of the Gospel, because, in spite of so much that is good in them, in spite of their 
sense of duty, their tenderness of conscience on many points, their benevolence, their 
uprightness, their generosity, they are under the dominion (I must say it) of a proud 
fiend; they have this stout spirit within them, they determine to be their own masters in 
matters of thought, about which they know so little; they consider their own reason 
better than any one’s else ; they will not admit that any one comes from God who contra- 
dicts their own view of truth. What! is none their equal in wisdom anywhere? Is 
there none other whose word is to be taken on religion? Is there none to wrest from 
them their ultimate appeal to themselves? Have they in no possible way the occasion 
or opportunity of faith? Is it a virtue, which, in consequence of their transcendent 
agacity, their prerogative of omniscience, they must give up hope of exercising? If the 
retensions of the Catholic Church do not satisfy them, let them go somewhere else, if 
hey can. If they are so fastidious that they cannot trust her as the oracle of God, let 
them find another more certainly from Him than the House of His own institution, 
which has ever been called by His Name, has ever maintained the same claims, has ever 
.aught one substance of doctrine, and has .triumphed over those who preached any other. 

ce Apostolic faith was in the beginning reJi^iK:e<rrr~manj; word as being God’s word, 
since what faith was then such- it^jt\ now, afyice*) faitfeis necessary for salvation, le 


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or three centuries in a corner of the earth. Let them stake their eternal prospects on 
kings and nobles and parliaments and soldiery, let them take some mere fiction of the 
law, or abortion of the schools, or idol of a populace, or upstart of a crisis, or oracle of 
lecture-rooms, as the prophet of God. Alas! they are hardly bestead if they must 
possess a virtue, which they have no means of exercising, — if they must make an act of 
faith, they know not on whom, and know not why ! 

What thanks ought we to render to Almighty God that He has made us what we 
are! It is a matter of grace. There are, to be sure, many cogent arguments to lead one 
to join the Catholic Church but they do not force the will. We may know them, and not 
be moved to act upon them. We may be convinced without being persuaded. The 
two things are quite distinct from each other, seeing you ought to believe, and believing, 
reason, if left to itself, will bring you to the conclusion that you have sufficient grounds 
for believing, but belief is the gift of grace. You are then what you are, not from any 
excellence or merit of your own, but by the grace of God who has chosen you to 
believe. You might have been as the barbarian of Africa, or the freethinker of Europe, 
with grace sufficient to condemn you, because it had not furthered your salvation. You 
might have had strong inspirations of grace and have resisted them, and then 
additional grace might not have been given to overcome your resistance. God gives not 
the same measure of grace to all. Has He not visited you with over-abundant grace? 
And was it not necessary for your hard hearts to receive more than other people? Praise 
and bless Him continually for the benefit; do not forget, as time goes on, that it is of 
grace; do not pride yourselves upon it; pray ever not to lose it; and do your best to 
make others partakers of it. 

And you who are not as yet Catholics, but who seem to feel an interest in our teach- 
ing, and a wish to know more about it, you too remember, that though you may not yet 
have faith in the Church, still God has brought you into the way of obtaining it. 
You are under the influence of His grace; He has brought you a step on your journey; 
He wishes to bring you farther, He wishes to bestow on you the fullness of His blessings 
and to make you Catholics. You are still in your sins; probably you are laden with the 
guilt of many years, the accumulated guilt of many a deep mortal offence, which no 
contrition has washed away, and to which no Sacrament has been applied. You at 
present are troubled with an uneasy conscience a dissatisfied reason, an unclean heart, 
and a divided will ; you need to be converted. Yet now the first suggestions of grace are 
working in your souls, and are to issue in pardon for the past and sanctity for the future. 
God is moving you to acts of faith, hope, love, hatred of sin, repentance; do not dis- 
appoint Him, do not thwart Him; concur with Him, obey Him. You look up, and you 
see, as it were, a great mountain to be scaled; you say, “ How can I possibly find a path 
over these giant obstacles which I find in the way of my becoming a Catholic? I do not 
comprehend this doctrine, and I am pained at that; a third seems impossible; I never 
can be familiar with one practice, I am afraid of another ; it is one maze and discomfort 
to me, and I am led to sink down in despair.” Say not so, my dear brethren ; look up in 

457 



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hope, trust in Him who calls you forward. “ Who artHte^^g^^mountain , Zorobabel? 
but a plain.” He will lead you forward step hu<s^p as He. has led forward many a one 
before you. He will make the CTOokedQaraighfeVnd thVreugh plain. He will turn the 
streams and dry up the rivers, which li ejpl ytot%path. “ He sl^all strengthen your feet 
like harts’ feet, and set you up on high-peaces. ' He shall widen your steps under you, and 
your tread shall not be weakened.” There is no God like the God of the righteous; H« 
that mounts the heaven is thy Helper; by His mighty working the clouds disperse. His' 
dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms ; He shall cast out the enemy 
from before thee, and shall say, Crumble away.” ‘‘The young shall faint, and youths 
shall fall; but they that hope in the Lord shall be new-fledged in strength, they shall take 
feathers like eagles, they shall run and not labor, they shall walk and not faint.” 










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Pcritf) and Doubt. 

HOSE who are drawn by curiosity or a better motive to inquire 
into the Catholic religion, sometimes put to us a strange 
question, — whether, if they took up the profession of it, they 
would be at liberty, when they felt inclined, to reconsider the 
question of its divine authority ; meaning by “reconsideration” 
an inquiry springing from doubt of it, and possibly ending in 
denial. The same question, in the form of an objection, 
is often asked by those who have no thoughts at all of be- 
coming Catholics, and who enlarge upon it, as something terri- 
ble, that whoever once enters the pale of the Church, on him 
the door of egress is shut forever; that once a Catholic, he 
never can doubt again; that whatever his misgivings may 
be, he must stifle them, nay must start from them as the suggestion of the evil spirit; in 
short, that he must give up altogether the search after truth and do a violence to his 
mind, which is nothing short of immoral. This is what is said, my brethren, by certain 
objectors, and their own view is, or ought to be, if they are consistent, this, that it is a 
fault ever to make up our mind once for all on any religious subject whatever; and 
that, however sacred a doctrine may be, and however evident to us, — let us say, for 
instance, the divinity of our Lord, or the existence of God, we ought always to reserve 
to ourselves the liberty of doubting about it. I cannot help thinking that so extravagant 
a position, as this is, confutes itself; however, I will consider the contrary (that is, the 
Catholic) view of the subject, on its own merits, though without admitting the language 
in which it was just now stated by its opponents. 

It is, then, perfectly true that the Church does not allow her children to entertain 
any doubt of her teaching; and that first of all, simply for this reason, because they are 
Catholics only while they have faith and faith is incompatible with doubt. No one can 
be a Catholic without a simple faith, that what the Church declares in God s name, is 
God’s word, and therefore true. A man must simply believe that the Church is the 
oracle of God ; he must be as certain of her mission as he is of the mission of the Apostles. 
Now, would any one ever call himself certain that the Apostles came from God, if, after 
professing his certainty, he added, that perhaps he might have reason to doubt one day 
about their mission? Such an anticipation would be a real, though latent, doubt, 
betravin? that he was not certain of it at present. A person who says, “ I believe just 





at this moment, but perhaps I am excited without knowing it, and I cannot answer for 
myself, that I shall believe to-morrow,” does not believe now. A man who says, “Per- 
haps I am in a kind of delusion, which will one day pass away from me, and leave me as 
I was before;” or, “I believe as far as I can tell, but there may be arguments in the 
background which will change my view;” such a man has not faith at all. When, 
then, Protestants quarrel with us for saying that those who join us must give up all 
ideas of ever doubting the Church in time to come, they do nothing else but quarrel with 
us for insisting on the necessity of faith in her. Let them speak plainly; our offence is 
that of demanding faith in the Holy Catholic Church; it is this, and nothing else. I 
must insist upon this: faith implies a confidence in a man’s mind, that the thing believed 
is really true; but, if it is once true, it never can be false. If it is true that God became 
man, what is the meaning of my anticipating a time when perhaps I shall not believe that 
God became man? this is nothing short of anticipating a time when I shall disbelieve a 
truth. And if I bargain to be allowed in time to come not to believe, or to doubt, that 
God became man, I am but asking to be allowed to doubt or disbelieve what I hold to be 
an eternal truth. I do not see the privilege of such a permission at all, or the meaning of 
wishing to secure it: — if at present I have no doubt whatever about it, then I am but 
asking leave to fall into error; if at present I have doubts about it, then I do not believe 
it at present, that is, I have not faith. But I cannot both really believe it now, and yet 
look forward to a time when perhaps I shall not believe it ; to make provision for future 
doubt is to doubt at present. It proves I am not in a fit state to become a Catholic now. 
I may love by halves, I may obey by halves; I cannot believe by halves: either I have 
faith, or I have not. 

And so again, when a man has become a Catholic, were he to set about following a 
doubt which has occurred to him, he has already disbelieved. I have not to warn him 
against losing his faith ; he is not merely in danger of losing it, he has lost it ; from the 
nature of the case he has already lost it; he fell from grace at the moment when he 
deliberately entertained and pursued his doubt. No one can determine to doubt what he 
is already sure of; but if he is not sure that the Church is from God, he does not believe 
it. It is not I who forbid him to doubt; he has taken the matter into his own hands 
when he determined on asking for leave; he has begun, not ended, in unbelief; his very 
wish, his purpose, is his sin. I do not make it so, it is such from the very state of the 
case. You some times hear, for example, of Catholics falling away, who will tell you it 
arose from reading the Scriptures which opened their eyes to the “unscripturalness,” so 
they speak, of the Church of the Living God. No; Scripture did not make them dis- 
believe (impossible!); they disbelieved when they opened the Bible; they opened it in 
an unbelieving spirit, and for an unbelieving purpose; they would not have opened it, 
had they not anticipated — I might say, hoped — that they should find things there 
inconsistent with Catholic teaching. They begin in self-will and disobedience, and they 
end in apostasy. This, then, is the direct and obvious reason why the Church cannot 
allow her children the liberty of doubting the truth of her word. He who really 

460 










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beliqy^s in itjiOHi^=c«4inot imagine the future discovery of rea^onsto shaktHats^faith ; if 
fluHmS-gp«€sit, he hasmot faith ; and that so many Protestants think it a sort of tVnhmy 


mot imagine the future discovery of reasons to sha! 
lot faith ; and that so many Protestants think 
Chtarch to forbid any children of hers to doubt about her teach ingrosiy shows! 

*5 not ljnow what faith is — which is the case; it is a strange idea to Them, 
cej^e to inquire, or cease to call himself her child. 

You may easily conceive that they who are entering the Church, or a 
who have entered it, have more than faith; that they have some portion o 

They have heard in the Church of the charity of Him who died for them, and\lf 
has given them His Sacraments as the means of conveying the merits of His death 
their souls, and they have felt more or less in those poor souls of theirs the beginnings of 
a responsive charity drawing them to Him. Now, does it stand with a loving trust, 
better than with faith, for a man to anticipate the possibility of doubting or 
denying the great mercies in which he is rejoicing? Take an instance; what would 
you think of a friend whom you loved, who could bargain that, in spite of his present 
trust in you, he might be allowed some day to doubt you? who, when a thought came 
into his mind, that you were playing a game with him, or that you were a knave, or a 
profligate, did not drive it from him with indignation, or laugh it away for its absurdity, 
but considered that he had an evident right to indulge it, nay, should be wanting in duty 
to himself, unless he did? Would you think that your friend trifled with truth, that he 
was unjust to his reason, that he was wanting in manliness, that he was hurting his 
mind, if he shrank from the thought? or would you not call him cruel and miserable if he 
did not? For me, my brethren, if he took the latter course, may I never be intimate with 
so unpleasant a person; suspicious, jealous minds, minds that keep at a distance from 
me, that insist on their rights, fall back on their own centre, are ever fancying offences, 
and are cold, censorious, wayward, and uncertain, these are often to be borne as a cross; 
but give me for my friend one who will unite heart and hand with me, who will throw 
himself into my cause and interest, who will take my part when I am attacked, who will 
be sure beforehand that I am in the right, and, if he is critical, as he may have cause to 
be toward a being of sin and imperfection, will be so from very love and loyalty, from an 
anxiety that I should always show to advantage, and a wish that others should love me 
as heartily as he does. I should not say a friend trusted me, who listened to every idl 
story against me, and I should like his absence better than his company if he gravely 
told me that it was a duty he owed to himself to encourage his misgivings of my honor. 

Well, pass on to a higher subject; — could a man be said to trust in God and to love 
)God, who was familiar with doubts whether there was a God at all, or who bargained 
that just as often as he pleased, he might be at liberty to doubt whether God was good, 
or just or almighty; and who maintained that unless he did this, he was but a poor slave, 
that his mind was in bondage anck eeukj^render no free, acceptable service to his Maker; 
that the very worship whicWG^feapp^ved^jvas one attended with a caveat, on the 




worshiper’s part, that, 
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heard before, which would make it a grave moral duty in him to suspend his judgement 
and his devotion? Why, I should say, that that man was worshiping his own mind 
his own dear self and not God; that his idea of God was a mere accidental form which 
his thoughts took at this time or that, — for a long period or a short one, as the case 
might be, — not an image of the great Eternal Object, but a passing sentiment or imagina- 
tion which meant nothing at all. I should say, and most men would agree with me, 
did they choose to give attention to the matter, that the person in question was a very 
self-conceited, self-wise man, and had neither love, nor faith, nor fear, nor anything 
supernatural about him; that his pride must be broken, and his heart new-made, 
before he was capable of any religious act at all. The argument is the same, in its degree, 
when applied to the church; she speaks to us as a messenger from God, — how can a man 
who feels this, who comes to her, who falls at her feet as such, make a reserve that he 
may be allowed to doubt her at some future day? Let the world cry out, if it will, 
that his reason is in fetters; let it pronounce that he is a bigot, unless he reserves his 
right of doubting; but he knows full well himself that he would be an ingrate and a fool 
if he did. Fetters, indeed! yes, “ The cords of Adam,” the fetters of love, these are what 
bind him to the Holy Church; he is, with the Apostle, the slave of Christ, the Church’s 
Lord; united (never to part, as he trusts, while life lasts) to her Sacraments, to her 
Sacrifices, to her Saints, to the Blessed Mary her advocate, to Jesus, to God. 

The truth is, that the world, knowing nothing of the blessings of the Catholic faith, 
and prophesying nothing but ill concerning it, fancies that a convert, after the first 
fervor is over, feels nothing but disappointment, weariness, and offence in his new religion, 
and is secretly desirous of retracing his steps. This is at the root of the alarm and 
irritation which it manifests at hearing that doubts are incompatible with a Catholic’s 
profession, because it is sure that doubts will come upon him, and then how pitiable will 
be his state! That there can be peace, and joy, and knowledge, and freedom, and 
spiritual strength in the Church, is a thought far beyond the world’s imagination; for 
it regards her simply as a frightful conspiracy against the happiness of man, seducing 
her victims by specious professions, and, when they are once hers, caring nothing for 
the misery which breaks upon them, so that by any means she may detain them in 
bondage. Accordingly, it conceives we are in perpetual warfare with our own reason, 
fierce objections ever rising within us, and we forcibly repressing them. It believes 
that, after the likeness of a vessel which has met with some accident at sea, we are ever 
baling out the water which rushes in upon us, and have hard work to keep afloat; we 
■just manage to linger on, either by an unnatural strain on our minds, or by turning them 
away from the subject of religion. The world disbelieves our doctrines itself, and cannot 
understand our own believing them. It considers them so strange, that it is quite sure, 
though we will not confess it, that we are haunted day and night with doubts, and 
tormented with the apprehension of yielding to them. I really do think it is the world’s 
judgment, that one principal part of a confessor’s work is the putting down such mis- 
givings in his penitents. It fancies that the reason is ever rebelling, like the flesh, 

462 




that doubt, like concupiscence, is elicited by every sight and sound, and that temptation 
insinuates itself in every page of letterpress, and through the very voice of a Protestant 
polemic. \\ hen it sees a Catholic Priest, it looks hard at him, to make out how much 
there is of folly in his composition, and how much of hypocrisy. 

But, if these are your thoughts, you are simply in error. Trust me, rather than the 
world, when I tell you, that is no difficult thing for a Catholic to believe; and that 
unless he grievously mismanages himself, the difficult thing is for him to doubt. He 
has received a gift which makes faith easy: it is not without an effort, a miserable effort, 
that any one who has received that gift, unlearns to believe. He does violence to 
his mind, not in exercising, but in withholding his faith. When the objections occur to 
him, which they may easily do if he lives in the world, they are as odious and unwelcome 
to him as impure thoughts are to the virtuous. He does certainly shrink from them, 
he flings them away from him, but why? not in the first instance, because they are 
dangerous, but because they are cruel and base. His loving Lord has done everything 
for him, and has He deserved such a return? Popule meus, quid feci tibi? “Oh my 
people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I afflicted thee? answer thou me. I 
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and delivered thee out of the house of slaves ; and 
I sent before thy face Moses, and Aaron, and Mary; I fenced thee in, and planted thee 
with the choicest vines ; and what is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard than 
I have not done to it?” He has poured on us His grace, He has been with us in our 
perplexities, He has led us on from one truth to another, He has forgiven us our sins, 
He has satisfied our reason, He has made faith easy, He has given us His Saints, 
He shows before us day by day His own Passion; why should I leave Him? What has 
He ever done to me but good? Why must I re-examine what I have examined once 
for all? Why must I listen to every idle word which flits past me against Him, on pain 
of being called a bigot and a slave, when, if I did, I should be behaving to the Most High 
as vou yourselves, who so call me, would not behave toward a human friend or benefactor? 
If I am convinced in my reason, and persuaded in my heart, why may I not be allowed 
to remain unmolested in my worship? 

I have said enough on the subject; still there is a third point of view in which it 
may be useful to consider it. Personal prudence is not the first or second ground for 
refusing to hear objections to the Church, but a motive it is, and that from the peculiar 
nature of divine faith, which cannot be treated as an ordinary conviction or belief. 
Faith is the gift of God, and not a mere act of our own, which we are free to exert when 
we will. It is quite distinct from an exercise of reason, though it follows upon it. I may 
feel the force of the argument for the divine origin of the Church ; I may see that I ought 
to believe and yet I may be unable to believe. This is no imaginary case ; there is many 
a man who has ground enough to believe, who wishes to believe, but who cannot believe. 
It is always indeed his own fault, for God gives grace to all who ask for it and use it, but 
still such is the fact, that conviction is not faith. Take the parallel case of obedience; 
many a man knows he ought to obey God, and does not and cannot, — through his own 

463 






m 

\1 


fault indeed, but still he cannot; for through grace alone can he obey. Now, faith is 
not a mere conviction in reason, it is a firm assent, it is a clear certainty greater than 
any other certainty; and this is wrought in the mind by the grace of God, and by it 
alone. As, then, men may be convinced, and not act according to their conviction, so 
may they be convinced, and not believe according to their conviction. They may confess 
that the argument is against them, that they have nothing to say for themselves, and that 
to believe is to be happy; and yet after all, they avow they cannot believe, they do not 
know why, but they cannot ; they acquiesce in unbelief, and they turn away from God and 
His Church. Their reason is convinced and their doubts are moral ones, arising in their 
root from a fault of the will. In a word, the arguments for religion do not compel any 
one to believe, just as arguments for good conduct do not compel any one to obey. Obe- 
dience is the consequence of willing to obey, and faith is the consequence of willing to b 
lieve; we may see what is right, whether in matters of faith or obedience, of ourselves, 
but we cannot will what is right without the grace of God. Here is the difference between 
other exercises of reason, and arguments for the truth of religion. It requires no act 
faith to assent to the truth that two make four; we cannot help assenting to it, hence 
) there is no merit in assenting to it ; but there is merit in believing that the Church is fro 
Ujod; for though there are abundant reasons to prove it to us, yet we can, without ai^Hf 
Absurdity, quarrel with the conclusion; we may complain that it is not clearer, we m 
suspend our assent, we may doubt about it, if we will, and grace alone can turn a bad 
will into a good one. 

And now you see why a Catholic dare not in prudence attend to such objections as 
are brought against their faith ; he has no fear of their proving that the Church does not 
come from God, but he is afraid, if he listened to them without reason, lest God should 
punish him by the loss of his supernatural faith. This is one cause of that miserable state 
of mind, to which I have already alluded, in which men would fain be Catholics and are 
not. They have trifled with conviction, they have listened to arguments against what 
they knew to be true, and a deadness of mind has fallen on them ; faith has failed them, 
and, as time goes on, they betray in their words and their actions, the Divine judgment, 
with which they are visited. They become careless and unconcerned, or restless and 
unhappy, or impatient of contradiction; ever asking advice and quarreling with it 
when it is given; not attempting to answer the arguments urged against them, but 
simply not believing. This is the whole of their case, they do not believe. And then 
it is quite an accident what becomes of them ; perhaps they continue on in this perplexed 
and comfortless state, lingering about the Church, yet not of her; not knowing what they 
believe and what they do not, like blind men, or men deranged, who are deprived of the 
eye, whether of body or mind, and cannot guide themselves in consequence; ever exciting 
hopes of a return, and ever disappointing them; — or, if they are men of more vigorous' 
minds, they launch forward in a course of infidelity, not really believing less, as they 
proceed, for from the first they believe nothing, but taking up, as time goes on, more and 
more consistent forms of error, till sometimes, if a free field is given them, they even 

464 




frtj 



HL' 






4 I 


develop into atheism. Such is the end of those who, under the pretence of inquiring 
after the truth, trifle with conviction. 

Here then are some of the reasons why the Catholic Church cannot consistently 
allow her children to doubt the divinity and the truth of her words. Mere investigation 
indeed into the grounds of our faith is not to doubt; nor is it doubting to consider the 
arguments urged against it, when there is good reason for doing so; but I am speaking 
of a real doubt, or a wanton entertainment of objections. Such a procedure the 
Church denounces, and not only for the reasons which I have assigned, but because it 
would be a plain abandonment of her office and character to act otherwise. How can 
she, who has the prerogative of infallibility, allow her children to doubt of her gift? 
It would be a simple inconsistency in her, who is the sure oracle of truth and messenger 
of heaven, to look with indifference on rebels to her authority. She simply does what 
the Apostles did before her, whom she has succeeded. “ He that despiseth,” says St. Paul, 
“ despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given in us His Holy Spirit.” And St. John, 
“ We are of God; he that knoweth God, heareth us; he that is not of God, heareth us not; 
by this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” Take, again, an instance 
from the Old Testament: — When Elias wa§ taken up into heaven, Eliseus was the 
only witness of the miracle; on his coming back then to the sons of the Prophets, they 
doubted what had become of his master, and wished to search for him; and, though 
they acknowledged Eliseus as his successor, they in this instance refused to take his word 
on the subject. Eliseus had struck the waters of Jordan, they had divided, and he had 
passed over; here, surely, was ground enough for faith, and accordingly “the sons of 
the Prophets at Jericho, who were over against him, seeing it, said, The spirit of Elias 
hath rested upon Eliseus; and they came to meet him, and worshiped him, falling to 
the ground.” What could they require more? they confessed that Eliseus had the spirit 
of his great master, and, in confessing it, they implied that that master was taken away; 
yet, they proceed, from infirmity of mind, to make a request indicative of doubt : “ Behold 
there are with thy servants fifty strong men, that can go and search for thy master, 
lest perhaps the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain 
or into some valley.” Now here was a request to follow up a doubt into an inquiry; 
did Eliseus allow it? he knew perfectly well that the inquiry would but end, as it really 
did end, in confirmation of the truth, but it was indulging a wrong spirit to engage in it, 
and he would not allow it. These religious men were, as we would feel, strangely 
inconsistent: they were doubting his word whom they had just worshiped as a Prophet, 
and, not only so, but they were doubting his supreme authority, for they implied that 
Elias was still among them. Accordingly he forbade their request ; “ He said, Send not.” 
This is what the world would call stifling an inquiry; it was, forsooth, tyrannical and 
oppressive to oblige them to take on his word what they might ascertain for themselves : 
yet he could not do otherwise without being unfaithful to his divine mission, and sanction- 
ing them in a fault. It is true when “they pressed him, he consented, and said, Send;” 
but we must not suppose this to be more than a condescension to their weakness, or 

465 








O 


V/ 









a concession in displeasure, like that which Almighty God gave to Balaam, who pressed 
his request in a similiar way. When Balaam asked to go with the ancients of Moab, 
God said, “Thou shalt not go with them;” whem Balaam asked Him “once more” 
“ God said to him, Arise and go with them ” ; then it is added, “ Balaam went with them, 
and God was angry.” Here in like manner, the prophet said, Send; “and they sent 
fifty men, and they sought three days, but found him not,” yet though the inquiry did 
but prove that Elias was removed, Eliseus showed no satisfaction at it, even when 
it had confirmed his authority: but “he said to them, Said I not to you, Send not?” 
It is thus that the Church ever forbids inquiry in those who already acknowledge her 
authority; but if they will inquire, she cannot hinder it; but they are not justified in 
doing so. 

And now I think you see, why inquiry precedes faith, and does not follow it. You 
inquired before you joined the Church; you were satisfied, and God rewarded you with 
the grace of faith; were you now determined to inquire further, you would lead us to 
think you had lost it again, for inquiry and faith are in their very nature incompatible. 
I will add, what is very evident, that no other religious body has a right to demand 
such an exercise of faith in it, and a right to forbid you further inquiry, but the Catholic 
Church; and for this simple reason, that no other body even claims to be infallible, let 
alone the proof of such a claim. Here is the defect at first starting, which disqualifies 
them, one and all, from ever competing with the Church of God. The sects about us, 
so far from demanding your faith, actually call on you to inquire and to doubt freely 
about their own merits ; they protest that they are but voluntary associations, and would 
be sorry to be taken for anything else; they beg and pray you not to mistake their 
preachers for anything more than mere sinful men, and they invite you to take the 
Bible with you to their sermons, and to judge for yourselves whether their doctrine is 
in accordance with it. Then, as to the Established Religion, grant that there are those 
in it who forbid inquiry into its claims; yet still, dare they maintain that it is infallible? 
If they do not (and no one does), how can they forbid inquiry about it, or claim for 
it the absolute faith of any of its members? Faith under these circumstances is not 
really faith, but obstinacy. Nor do they commonly venture to demand it; they will 
say, negatively, “Do not inquire”; but they cannot say positively, “Have faith;” for 
in whom are their members to have faith? of whom can they say, whether individual or 
collection of men, “He or they are gifted with infallibility, and cannot mislead us?” 
Therefore, when pressed to explain themselves, they ground their duty of continuance 
in their communion, not on faith in it, but on attachment to it, which is a very different 
thing; utterly different, for there are very many reasons why they should feel a very 
great liking for the religion in which they have been brought up. Its portions of Catholic 
teachings, its “decency and order,” the pure and beautiful English of its prayers, its 
literature, the piety found among its members, the influence of superiors and friends, 
its historical associations, its domestic character, the charm of a country life, the 
remembrances of past years, — there is all this and much more to attach the mind to 


466 


the national worship. But attachment is not trust, nor is to obey the same as to look 
up to, and to rely upon ; nor do I think that any thoughtful or educated man can simply 
believe or confide in the word of the Established Church. I never met any such person 
who did, or said he did, and I do not think that such a person is possible. Its defenders 
would believe if they could; but their highest confidence is qualified by a misgiving. 
They obey, they are silent before the voice of their superiors, but they do not profess 
to believe. Nothing is clearer than this, that if faith in God’s word is required of us 
for salvation, the Catholic Church is the only medium by which we can exercise it. 

And now, you who are not Catholics, perhaps you will tell me, that, if all inquiry 
is to cease when you become Catholics, you ought to be very sure that the Church is 
from God before you join it. You speak truly; no one should enter the Church without 
a firm purpose of taking her word in all matters of doctrine and morals, and that, on 
the ground of her coming directly from the God of Truth. You must look the matter 
in the face, and count the cost. If you do not come in this spirit, you may as well not 
come at all; high and low, learned and ignorant, must come to learn. If you are right 
as far as this, you cannot go very wrong; you have the foundation; but, if you come in 
any other temper, you had better wait till you have got rid of it. You must come, I 
say, to the Church to learn; you must come, not to bring your own notions to her, but 
with the intention of ever being a learner; you must come with the intention of taking 
her for your portion and of never leaving her. Do not come as an experiment ; do not 
come as you would take sittings in a chapel, or tickets for a lecture-room; come to her 
as to your home, to the school of your souls, to the mother of Saints, and to the vestibule 
of heaven. On the other hand do not distress yourselves with thoughts whether, when 
you have joined her, your faith will last; this is a suggestion of your enemy to hold you 
back. He who has begun a good work in you, will perfect it; He who has chosen you, 
will be faithful to you; put your cause into His hand, wait upon Him, and you will 
surely persevere. What good work will you ever begin, if you bargain first to see the 
end of it? If you wish to do all at once, you will do nothing; he has done half the work, 
who has begun it well; you will not gain your Lord’s praise at the final reckoning by 
hiding His talent. No; when He brings you from error to truth, He will have done the 
more difficult work (if aught is difficult to Him), and surely He will preserve you from 
returning from truth to error. Take the experience of those who have gone before you 
in the same course; they had many fears that their faith would fail them, before taking 
the great step, but those fears vanished on their taking it; they had fears, before they re- 
ceived the grace of faith, lest, after receiving it, they should lose it again, but no fears 
(except on the ground of their general frailness) after it was actually given them. 

Be convinced in your reason that the Catholic Church is a teacher sent to you from 
God, and it is enough. I do not wish you to join her till you are. If you are half 
convinced, pray for a full conviction, and wait till you have it. It is better, indeed, to 
come quickly, but better slowly than carelessly; and sometimes, as the proverb goes, 
the more haste, the worse speed. Only make yourselves sure that the delay is not 

467 


&Cr^r 




from any fault of yours, which you can remedy. God deals with us very differently ; 
conviction comes slowly to some men, quickly to others; in some it is the result of much 
thought and many reasonings, in others of a sudden illumination. One man is convinced 
at once, as in the instance described by St. Paul: “If all prophesy,” he says, speaking 
of exposition of doctrine, “and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, 
he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. The secrets of his heart are made manifest; 
and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God, and say that God is among you of 
a truth.” The case is the same now; some men are converted merely by entering a 
Catholic church; others are converted by reading one book; others by one doctrine. 
They feel the weight of their sins, and they see that that religion must come from God, 
which alone has the means of forgiving them. Or they are touched and overcome by 
the evident sanctity, beauty, and (as I may say) fragrance of the Catholic religion. 
Or they long for a guide amid the strifes of tongues ; and the very doctrine of the Church 
about faith, which is so hard to many, is conviction to them. Others, again, hear 
many objections to the Church, and follow out the whole subject far and wide; conviction 
can scarcely come to them except as at the end of a long inquiry. As in a court of justice, 
one man’s innocence may be proved at once, another’s is the result of a careful investiga- 
tion; one has nothing in his conduct or character to explain, against another there are 
many unfavorable presumptions at first sight; so Holy Church presents herself very 
differently to different minds who are contemplating her from without. God deals 
with them differently; but, if they are faithful to their light, at last, in their own time, 
though it may be a different time to each, He brings them to that one and the same 
state of mind, very definite and not to be mistaken, which we call conviction. They will 
have no doubt, whatever difficulties may still attach to the subject, that the Church is 
from God; they may not be able to answer this objection or that, but they will be cer- 
tain in spite of it. 

This is a point which should ever be kept in view : conviction is a state of mind, and 
it is something beyond and distinct from the mere arguments of which it is the result; 
it does not vary with their strength or their number. Arguments lead to a conclusion, 
and when the arguments are stronger, the conclusion is clearer; but conviction may be 
felt as strongly in consequence of a clear conclusion, as of one which is clearer. A man 
may be so sure upon six reasons, that he does not need a seventh, nor would feel surer 
if he had it. And so as regards the Catholic Church : men are convinced in very various 
ways, — what convinces one, does not convince another; but this is an accident; the 
time comes anyhow, sooner or later, when a man ought to be convinced, and is convinced, 
and then he is bound not to wait for any more arguments, though more arguments be 
producible. He will find himself in a condition when he may even refuse to hear more 
arguments in behalf of the Church; he does not wish to read or think more on the subject; 
his mind is quite made up. In such a case it is his duty to join the Church at once; 
he must not delay; let him be cautious in council, but prompt in execution. This it is 
that makes Catholics so anxious about them : it is not that they wish him to be precipitate ; 

468 






but knowing the temptations yHugffthi' evff^ne/tevpr our way, they are lovingly 
anxious for his soul, lest he hits- LC.oihe tb'tlie poif^wbonviction, and is passing it, and 
is losing his chance of conversion. If so, it ma^ never return; God has not chosen 
every one to salvation: it is a rare gift to be a Catholic; it may be offered to us once in 
our lives and never again; and, if we have not seized on the “accepted time,” nor know 
“in our day the things which are for our peace,” oh, the misery for us! What shall 
we be able to say when death comes, and we are not converted, and it is directly and 
immediately our own doing that we are not? 

“Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets. How long, ye 
little ones, love ye childishness, and fools covet what is hurtful to them, and the unwise 
hate knowledge? Turn ye at my reproof; behold, I will bring forth to you my spirit, and 
I will show my words unto you, 


Because I have called and ye refused, I stretched out 
my hand, and there was none who regarded, and ye despised all my counsel and neglected 
my chidings, I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come 
to you which you feared; when a sudden storm shall rush on you, and destruction shall 
thicken as a tempest, when tribulation and straitness shall come upon you. Then shall 
they call on me, and I will not hear; they shall rise betimes but they shall not find me; 
for that they hated disclipline, and took not on them the fear of the Lord, nor acquiesced 
in my counsel, but made light of my reproof, therefore shall they eat the fruit of their (_ 
own way, and be filled with their own devices.” 

Oh, the misery for us, as many of us as shall be in that number! Oh, the awful 
thought for all eternity ! Oh, the remorseful sting, “ I was called, I might have answered, 
and I did not!” And oh, the blessedness, if we can look back on the time of trial, when 
friends implored and enemies scoffed, and say, — The misery for me, which would have 
been, had I not followed on, had I hung back, when Christ called! Oh, the utter 
confusion of mind, the wreck of faith and opinion, the blackness and void, the dreary 
scepticism, the hopelessness, which would have been my lot, the pledge of the outer 
darkness to come, had I been afraid to follow Him! I have lost friends, I have lost the 
world, but I have gained Him, who gives in Himself houses and brethren and sisters 
and mothers and children and lands a hundredfold; I have lost the perishable, and 
gained the Infinite; I have lost time, and I have gained eternity; “O Lord, my God, 

I am thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid; Thou hast broken my bonds. I will 
sacrifice to Thee the sacrifice of praise, and I will call on the Name of the Lord.” 








-j AM going to ask you a question, so trite, and ther^re^-ko 
uninteresting at first sight, that you may wonder why I put it, 
and may object that it will be difficult to fix the mind/^t ^ 
an< ^ ma ^ ant ^ c ’P a ^ e that nothing profitable can be made ; ^C W.' 
''/ I* is this: “Why were you sent into the world?’’ ret, after; 

all, it is perhaps a thought more obvious than it is common? 

. 9 more easy than it is familiar; I mean it ought to come into your 

minds, but it does not, and'you never had more than a distant 
\f acquaintance with it, though that sort of acquaintance with it 

Admm )%■ you have had for many years. Nay, once or twice, perhaps you 

have been thrown across the thought somewhat intimately, 
for a short season, but this was an accident which did not last. 
There are those who recollect the first time, as it would seem, when it came home to 
them. They were but little children, and they were by themselves, and they spontane- 
ously asked themselves, or rather God spake in them, “Why am I here? how came I 
here? who brought me here? What am I to do here?” Perhaps it was the first act of 
reason, the beginning of their real responsibility, the commencement of their trial; per- 
haps from that day they may date their capacity, their awful power of chosing between 
good and evil, and of committing mortal sin. And so, as life goes on, the thought 
comes vividly, from time to time, for a short season across their conscience; whether in 
illness, or in some anxiety, or at some season of solitude, or on hearing some preacher, 
or reading some religious work. A vivid feeling comes over them of the vanity and 
unprofitableness of the world, and then the question recurs, “Why then am I sent into 
it?” 

And a great contrast indeed does this vain, unprofitable, yet overbearing world 
present with such a question as that. It seems out of place to ask such a question in 
so magnificent, so imposing a presence, as that of the great Babylon. The world professes 
to supply all that we need, as if we were sent into it for the sake of being sent here, and 
for nothing beyond the sending. It is a great favor to have an introduction to this 
; august world. This is^o be our exposition, forsooth, of the mystery of life. 'ISveiy 
man is doing his Own/tvill here, seeking hjs$ own pleasure, pursuing his own ends, alit£ 
that is why he was^rought into existence. ’1&^h>road into the streets of the populous 
city, contemplate the continuous outpouring there bf human energy, and the countless 
varieties of human character, and be satisfied! The ways are thronged, carriageway and 





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300000001 


pavement; multitudes are hurrying to and fro, each on his own errand, or are loitering’ 
about from listlessness, or from want of work, or have come forth into the public concourse 
to see and to be seen, for amusement or for display, or on the excuse of business. The 
carriages of the wealthy mingle with the slow wains laden with provisions or merchandise,, 
the productions of art or the demands of luxury. The streets are lined with shops, open 
and gay, inviting customers, and widen now and then into some spacious square or 
place, with lofty masses of brickwork or of stone, gleaming in the fitful sunbeam, and 
surrounded or fronted with what simulates a garden’s foliage. Follow them in another 
direction and you will find the whole groundstead covered with large buildings, planted 
thickly up and down, the homes of the mechanical arts. The air is filled, below, with 
a ceaseless, importunate, monotonous din, which penetrates even to your most innermost 
chamber, and rings in your ears even when you are not conscious of it; and overhead, 
with a canopy of smoke, shrouding God’s day from the realms of obstinate toil. This, 
is the end of man! 

Or stay at home, and take up one of those daily prints which are so true a picture 
of the world; look down the columns of advertisements, and you will see the catalogues 
of pursuits, projects, aims, anxieties, amusements, indulgencies which occupy the mind 
of man. He plays many parts: here he has goods to sell, there he wants employment; 
there again he seeks to borrow money, here he offers you houses, great seats or small 
tenements; he has food for the million and luxuries for the wealthy, and sovereign 
medicines for the credulous, and books, new and cheap, for the inquisitive. Pass on to 
the news of the day, and you will learn what great men are doing at home and abroad: 
you will read of wars and rumors of wars; of debates in the legislature; of rising men, 
and old statesmen going off the scene ; of political contests in this city or that country ; 
of the collision of rival interests. You will read of the money market, and the provision 
market, and the market for metals; of the state of trade, the call for manufacturers, 
news of ships arrived in port, of accidents at sea, of exports and imports, of gains and 
losses, of frauds and their detection. Go forward, and you arrive at discoveries in 
art and science, discoveries (so-called) in religion, the court and royalty, the entertain- 
ments of the great, places of amusement, strange trials, offences, accidents, escapes, 
exploits, experiments, contests, ventures. O this curious, restless, clamorous, panting 
being, which we call life! — and is there to be no end to all this? Is there no object in 
it? It never has an end, it is forsooth its own object! 

And now, once more, put aside what you see and what you read of the world, and 
try to penetrate into the hearts, and to reach the ideas and the feelings of those who 
constitute it ; look into them as closely as you can ; enter into their houses and private 
rooms; strike at random through the streets and lanes: take as they come, palace and 
hovel, office or factory, and what will you find? Listen to their words, witness, alas! 
their works; you will find in the main the same lawless thoughts, the same unrestrained 
desires, the same ungoverned passions, the same earthly opinions, the same willful deeds, 
in high and low, learned and unlearned ; .you will find them all to be living for the sake of 









sUgmu, “Wtzarew/jW^ centre, our own end.” Wh> 
^ are tftey foiling N^ky -ar^jtkey''^4eTfihTg ? for what are they living? ‘‘We live to please: 
Ourselves* life is worthless except Sye^Jhaje, our own way; we are not sent here at all, but 
we find ourselves here, and we are/t*uz sl^^^^less we can think what we will, believe' 
n what we will, love what we will, hate wlf^^^^vill, do what we will. We detest inter^ 
A ference on the part of God or man. We domoYbargain to be rich or to be great ; but we 
do bargain, whether rich or poor, high or low, to live for ourselves, to live for the lust of 
the moment, or, according to the doctrine of the hour, thinking of the future and the 
unseen just as much or as little as we please.” 

Oh, is it not a shocking thought, but who can deny its truth? The multitude of 
men are living without any aim beyond this visible scene; they may from time to time 
use religious words, or they may profess a communion or a worship, as a matter of course, 
or of expedience, or of duty, but, if there was any sincerity in such profession, the course 
jl of the world could not run as it does. What a contrast is all this to the end of life, as it 
A is set before us in our most holy Faith! If there was one among the sons of men, who 
might allowably have taken His pleasure and have done His own will here below, surely 
j it was He who came down on earth from the bosom of the Father, and who was so pure 
and spotless in that human nature which He put on Him, that He could have no human 
purpose or aim inconsistent with the will of His Father. Yet He, the Son of God, the 
Eternal Word, came, not to do His own will, but His who sent Him, as you know very 
well is told us again and again in Scripture. Thus the Prophet in the Psalter, speaking 
in His person, says, “Lo, I come to do Thy will, 0 God.” And He says in the Prophet 
- Isaias, “ The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I do not resist ; I have not gone back.” 

And in the Gospel, when He had come on earth, ‘‘My food is to do the will of Him that 
! sent me, and to finish His work.” Hence, too, in His agony, He cried out, “Not my 
will, but Thine, be done”; and St. Paul, in like manner, says, that “Christ pleased not 
Himself;” and elsewhere, that, “though He was God’s Son, yet learned He obedience by 
the things which He suffered.” Surely so it was; as being indeed the Eternal Co-equal 
Son, His will was one and the same with the Father’s will, and He had no submission of 
will to make ; but He chose to take on Him man’s nature, and the will of that nature ; He 
chose to take on Him affections, feelings, and inclinations proper to man, a will innocent 
"Andeed and good, but still a man’s will, distinct from God’s will; a will, which, had it 
'dieted simply according to what was pleasing to its nature, would, when pain and toil 
ptwere to be endured, have held back from an active co-operation with the will of God. 
|p3ut, though He took on Himself the nature of man, He took not on Him that selfishness, 
with which fallen man wraps himself round, but in all things He devoted Himself as a 
j "ready sacrifice to His Father. He came on-earth, not to take His pleasure, not to follow 
--Hjs taste, not for the mere exercise of human q^f ectioft7 but_si mply to glorify His Father 
jand to do His will. He Same charged ^th a'mi^siop, deputed for a work; He looked noG 
''-'to the right nor to the left, lie thougli^ n'c^^Hirus^lf, Hggffered Himself up to God. 

Hence it is thrhtHe was carried m tife : womb bNCpodf woman, who before His bif£^ 



had two journeys to make, of love and of obedience, to the mountains and to Bethlehem. 
He was born in a stable and laid in a manger. He was hurried off to Egypt to sojourn 
there; then He lived till He was thirty years of age in a poor way, by a rough trade, in 
a small house, in a despised town. Then, when He went out to preach He had not where 
to lay His head; He wandered up and down the country as a stranger upon earth. He 
was driven out into the wilderness, and dwelt among the wild beasts. He endured heat, 
cold, hunger and weariness, reproach and calumny. His food was coarse bread and 
fish' from the lake, or depended on the hospitality of strangers. And as He had already 
left His Father’s greatness on high, and had chosen an earthly home, so again, at that 
Father’s bidding, He gave up the sole solace given Him in this world, and denied Himself 
His Mother’s presence. He parted with her who bore Him; He endured to be strange to 
her; He endured to call her coldly “woman,” who was His own undefiled one, all beauti- 
ful, all gracious, the best creature of His hands, and the sweet nurse of His infancy. He 
put her aside, as Levi. This type, merited the sacred ministry, by saying to his par- 
ents and kinsmen, “I know you not.” He exemplified in His own person the severe 
maxim, which He gave to His disciples, “He that loveth mother more than me is not 
worthy of me.” In all these many ways He sacrificed every wish of His own, that 
we might understand, that, if He, the Creator, came into His own world, not for His own 
pleasure, but to do His Father’s will, we too have most surely some work to do, and have 
seriously to bethink ourselves what that work is. 

Yes, so it is; realize it, my brethren; — every one who breathes, high and low, 
educated and ignorant, young and old, man and woman, has a mission, has a work. We 
are not sent into this world for nothing; we are not bom at random; we are not here, 
that we may go to bed at night, and get up in the morning, toil for our bread, eat and 
drink, laugh and joke, sin when we have a mind, and reform when we are tired of sinning, 
rear a family and die. God sees every one of us; He creates every soul, He lodges in it 
the body, one by one, for a purpose. He needs, He deigns to need, every one of us. He 
has an end for each of us ; we are all equal in His sight, and we are placed in our different 
ranks and stations, not to get what we can out of them for ourselves, but to labor in 
them for Him. As Christ has His work, we too have ours ; as He rejoiced to do His work, 
we must rejoice in ours also. 

St. Paul on one occasion speaks of the world as a scene in a theatre. Consider what 
is meant by this. You know, actors on a stage are on an equality with each other really, 
but for the occasion they assume a difference of character; some are high, some are low, 
some are merry, and some sad. Well, would it not be a simple absurdity in any actor 
to pride himself on his mock diadem, or his edgeless sword, instead of attending to his 
part? what, if he did but gaze at himself and his dress? what, if he secreted, or turned to 
his own use, what was valuable in it? Is it not his business, and nothing else, to act his 
part well? common sense tells us so. Now, we are all but actors in this world; we are 
one and all equal, we shall be judged as equals as soon as life is over; yet, equal and 
similar in ourselves, each has his special part at present, each has his work, each has his 

473 




■/ ( ( 


r* 




^name in the world, 
(’’^fid self-willed, but to 




mission, — not to indulge his passions, not to make 
not to save himself trouble, not tp follow his boje^rfot tp be ; 
do what God puts on him to do. 

Look at that poor profligate in the Gofifie/.Jd^k at Dives; doCfiou think he understood 
Ithat his wealth was to be spent, not c^^mseli, but for the glory of God? — yet, for forget- 
ting this, he was lost for ever and eftg^/ I will tell you what he thought, and how li 
viewed things: — he was a young man, and had succeeded to a good estate, and he deter- 
mined to enjoy himself. It did not strike him that his wealth had any other use than 
that of enabling him to take his pleasure. Lazarus lay at his gate; he might have 
relieved Lazarus; that was God’s will; but he managed to put conscience aside, and he 
persuaded himself he should be a fool, if he did not make the most of this world, while he 
had the means. So he resolved to have his fill of pleasure ; and feasting was to his mind a 
principal part of it. “ He fared sumptuously every day;” everything belonging to him 
was in the best style, as men speak; his house, his furniture, his plate of silver and gold, 
his attendants, his establishments. Everything was for enjoyment and for show too; 
to attract the eyes of the world and to gain the applause and admiration of his equals, 
who were the companions of his sins. These companions were doubtless such as became 
a person of such pretensions; they were fashionable men; a collection of refined, high- 
bred, haughty men, eating, not gluttonously, but what was rare and costly; delicate, 
exact, fastidious in their taste, from their very habits of indulgence; not eating for the 
mere sake of eating, or drinking for the mere sake of drinking, but making a sort of 
science of their sensuality; sensual, carnal, as flesh and blood can be, with eyes, ears, 
tongue, steeped in impurity, every thought, look, and sense, witnessing or ministering 
to the evil one who ruled them; yet, with exquisite correctness of idea and judgment, 
laying down rules for sinning; — heartless and selfish, high, punctilious, and disdainful in 
their outward deportment, and shrinking from Lazarus, who lay at the gate, as an 
eyesore, who ought for the sake of decency to be put out of the way. Dives was one 
of such, and so he lived his short span, thinking of nothing, loving nothing, but himself, 
till one day he got into a fatal quarrel with one of his godless associates, or he caught 
some bad illness; then he lay helpless on his bed of pain, cursing fortune and his physician 
that he was no better, and impatient that he was thus kept from enjoying his youth, 
trying to fancy himself mending when he was getting worse, and disgusted at those who 
ould not throw him some word of comfort in his suspense, and turning more resolutely 
from his Creator in proportion to his suffering; — and then at last his day came, and he 
died, and (oh! miserable!) “ was buried in hell.” And so ended he and his mission. 

This was the fate of your pattern and idol, O ye, if an w (fyyou be young men, who, 




though not possessed of wealth and rank, yet affect the 
You, perhaps, have not been born splendidly or nobly; 
the seats of liberal education; you have no high 
manners nor caught the tone of good society ; 
the candor, the romantic sense of honor, tl 


f those who have them, 
ot been brought up in 
y-ou have not learned the 
rare of the largeness of mind, 
f'taste, the consideration for 





O C? o o 




j&M 





others, and the gentleness which the world puts forth as its highest types of excellence; 
you have not come near the courts or the mansions of the great; yet you ape the sin of 
Dives, while you are strangers to his refinement. You think it the sign of a gentleman 
to set yourselves above religion, to criticise the religious and professors of religion, to look 
at Catholic and Methodist with impartial contempt, to gain a smattering of knowledge 
on a number of subjects, to dip into a number of frivolous publications, if they are 
popular, to have read the latest novel, to have heard the singer and seen the actor of the 
day, to be well up with the news, to know the names and, if so be, the persons of public 
men, to be able to bow to them, to walk up and down the street with your heads on high, 
stare at whatever meets you; and to say and do worse things, of which these outward 
extravagances are but the symbol. And this is what you conceive you have come upon 
earth for! The Creator made you, it seems, O my children, for this work and office, to 
be a bad imitation of polished ungodliness, to be a piece of tawdry and faded finery, or a 
scent which has lost its freshness, and does but offend the sense! O! that you could see 
how absurd and base are such pretences in the eyes of any but yourselves! No calling of 
life but is honorable ; no one is ridiculous who acts suitably to his calling and estate ; no 
one, who has good sense and humility, but may, in any station of life, be truly well-bred 
and refined; but ostentation, affectation, and ambitious efforts are, in every station of 
life, high or low, nothing but vulgarities. Put them aside, despise them yourselves, O 
my very dear sons, whom I love, and whom I would fain serve; — oh! that you could feel 
that you have souls! oh, that you would have mercy on your souls! oh, that, before it is 
too late, you would betake yourselves to Him who is the Source of all that is truly high 
and magnificent and beautiful, all that is bright and pleasant, and secure what you 
ignorantly seek, in Him whom you so willfully, so awfully despise ! 

He alone, the Son of God, “the brightness of the Eternal Light, and the spotless 
mirror of His Majesty,” is the source of all good and all happiness to rich and poor, high 
and low. If you were ever so high, you would need Him; if you were ever so low, you 
could offend Him. The poor can offend Him; the poor man can neglect his divinely 
appointed mission as well as the rich. Do not suppose, my brethren, that what I have 
said against the upper or the middle class, will not, if you happen to be poor, also lie 
against you. Though a man were as poor as Lazarus, he could be as guilty as Dives. If 
you are resolved to degrade yourselves to the brutes of the field, who have no reason 
and no conscience, you need not wealth or rank to enable you to do so. Brutes have no 
wealth; they have no pride of life; they have no purple and fine linen, no splendid table, 
no retinue of servants, and yet they are brutes. They are brutes by the law of their 
nature : they are the poorest among the poor ; there is not a vagrant and outcast who is 
so poor as they; they differ from him, not in their possessions, but in their want of a soul, 
in that he has a mission and they have not, he can sin and they cannot. It stands to 
reason, a man may intoxicate himself with a cheap draught, as well as with a costly one; 
he may steal another’s money for his appetites, though he does not waste his own upon 
them; he may break through the natural and social laws which encircle him, and profane 
. 475 







the sanctity of family duties, though he be, not a child of nobles, but a peasant or 
artisan, — nay, and perhaps he does so more frequently than they. This is not the poor’s 
blessedness, that he has less temptations to self-indulgence, for he has as many, but that 
from his circumstances he receives the penances and corrections of self-indulgence. 
Poverty is the mother of many pains and sorrows in their season and these are God’s 
messengers to lead the soul to repentance ; but, alas ! if the poor man indulges his passions, 
thinks little of religion, puts off repentance, refuses to make an effort, and dies without 
conversion, it matters nothing that he was poor in this world, it matters nothing that he 
was less daring than the rich, it matters not that he promised himself God’s favor, that 
he sent for the priest when death came, and received the last Sacraments ; Lazarus too, 
in that case, shall be buried with Dives in hell, and shall have had his consolation neither 
in this world nor in the world to come. 

The simple question is, whatever a man’s rank in life may be, does he in that rank 
perform the work which God has given him to do? Now then, let me turn to others, of 
a very different description, and let me hear what they will say, when the question is 
asked them; — why, they will parry it thus: “You give us no alternative,” they will say 
to me, “except that of being sinners or Saints. You put before us our Lord’s pattern 
and you spread before us the guilt and the ruin of the deliberate transgressor, whereas 
we have no intention of going so far one way or the other; we do not aim at being Saints, 
but we have no desire at all to be sinners. We neither intend to disobey God’s will, nor to 
give up our own. Surely there is a middle way, and a safe one, in which God’s will and 
our will may both be satisfied. We mean to enjoy both this world and the next. We 
will guard against mortal sin ; we are not obliged to guard against venial ; indeed it would 
be endless to attempt it. None but Saints do so; it is the work of a life; we need have 
nothing else to do. We are not monks, we are in the world, we are in business, we are 
parents, we have families; we must live for the day. It is a consolation to keep from 
mortal sin; that we do, and it is enough for salvation. It is a great thing to keep in 
God’s favor; what indeed can we desire more? We come at due time to the Sacraments; 
this is our comfort and our stay; did we die, we should die in grace and escape the doom 
of the wicked. But if we once attempted to go further, where should we stop ? how will 
you draw the line for us? the line between mortal and venial sin is very distinct; we 
understand that, but do you not see that if we attended to our venial sins, there would 
be just as much reason to attend to one as to another? If we began to repress our 
anger, why not also repress vainglory? why not also guard against niggardliness? 
why not also keep from falsehood? from gossipping, from idling, from excess in eating? 
And, after all, without venial sin we never can be, unless indeed we have the prerogative 
of the Mother of God, which it would be almost heresy to ascribe to any one but her. 
You are not asking us to be converted; that we understand; we are converted, we were 
converted a long time ago. You bid us aim at an indefinite vague something, wdiich is 
less than perfection, yet more than obedience, and which, without resulting in any tangible 
advantage, debars us from the pleasures and embarrasses us in the duties of this world.” 

476 





This isjaffi-gfr-you, will say; but your premises are bettemthan your realbhing, and 
vbur^rfclusions will not stand. You have a right view why God has sent you intch^he 
\yoffd, viz., in order that you may get to Heaven; it is quite true aJiStrtlmt you Would V[*T 
-"farewell indeed if you found yourselves there, you could desire notmng better; nbr, it\ 
is true, can you live any time without venial sin. It is true also that you are not^blijredy WJ$ 
to aim at being Saints; it is no sin not to aim at perfection. So much is true and to tbe \ ife&i 
purpose, but it does not follow from it that you, with such views and feelings as ychsdiWife Vwlf/ 
expressed, are using sufficient exertions even for attaining to purgatory. Has youV tyY'lp 
religion any difficulty in it, or is it in all respects easy to you? Are you simply taking 
your own pleasure in your mode of living, or do you find your pleasure in submitting^' 
yourself to God’s pleasure? In a word, is your religion a work? for if it be not, it is not(^ ^ |,Y 
religion at all. Here at once, before going into your argument, is a proof that it is an virt, < 

unsound one, because it brings you to the conclusion that, whereas Christ came to do a 
work, and all Saints, nay, nay, and sinners do a work too, you, on the contrary, have no jy.. Z 
work to do, because, forsooth, you are neither sinners nor Saints; or, if you once had 
a work, at least that you have dispatched it already, and you have nothing upon your 
hands. You have attained your salvation it seems before your time, and have nothing (T 1 
to occupy you, and are detained on earth too long. The workdays are over and your // 
perpetual holiday is begun. Did then God send you, above all other men, into the //^ 
world to be idle in spiritual matters? Is it your mission only to find pleasure in this 
world in which you are but as pilgrims and sojourners? Are you more than sons of \\ ^ 
Adam, who, by the sweat of their brow, are to eat bread till they return to the earth out \\ x 
of which they are taken ? Unless you have some work in hand, unless you are struggling, 
unless you are fighting with yourselves, you are no followers of those who “through 
many tribulations entered into the kingdom of God.” A fight is the very token of a if 

Christian. He is a soldier of Christ; high or low, he is this and nothing else. If you w 

have triumphed over all mortal sin, as you seem to think, then you must attack your 
venial sins ; there is no help for it ; there is nothing else to do if you would be soldiers of 
Jesus Christ. But, O simple souls! to think you have gained any triumph at all! No: 


shadow mortal sins are lurking. Mortal sins are the children of venial, which, though 
they be not deadly themselves, yet are prolific of death. You may think that you have 
killed the giants who had possession of your hearts, and that you have nothing to fear 
but may sit at rest under your vine and under your fig-tree ; but the giants will live again, 
they will rise from the dust, and before you know where you are you will be taken captive 
and slaughtered by the fierce, powerful, and eternal enemies of God. 

The end of a thing is the tester Jt^as our Lord’s rejoicing in His last solemn hour, 
that He had done the worJYfoh^li'ich He y|a& s_effiy‘‘ I have glorified Thee on earth,” 
He says in His prayer 1 ha^ffinikjjed th^^i^^^j^lRNEhou gavest me to do ; I have 
manifested Thy nam^tq the men whom Tho,Uj ) hasLg:^^^hs(k. i out of the world.” It was 






St. Paul’s consolation also: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, 
I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the 
Lord shall render to me in that day, the just Judge.” Alas! alas! how different will 
be our view of things when we come to die, or when we have passed into eternity, from 
the dreams and pretences with which we beguile ourselves now! What will Babel do 
for us then? Will it rescue our souls from the purgatory or the hell to which it sends 
them? If we were created, it was that we might serve God; if we have His gifts, it is 
that we may glorify Him; if we have a conscience, it is that we may obey it; if we have 
the prospect of heaven, it is that we may keep it before us; if we have light, that we 
may follow it ; if we have grace, that we may save ourselves by means of it. Alas ! alas ! 
for those who die without fulfilling their mission! who were called to be holy, and lived 
in sin; who were called to worship Christ, and who plunged into this giddy and unbe- 
lieving world; who were called to fight, and who remained idle; who were called to be 
Catholics, and who did but remain in the religion of their birth! Alas! for those who 
have had gifts and talents and have not used, or have misused them; who have had 
wealth and have spent it on themselves; who have had abilities and have advocated 
what was sinful, or ridiculed what was true, or scattered doubts against what was sacred; 
who have had leisure and have wasted it on wicked companions, or evil books, or foolish 
amusements! Alas! for those, of whom the best that can be said is that they are harm- 
less and naturally blameless, while they never have attempted to cleanse their hearts or 
to live in God’s sight! 

The world goes on from age to age, but the holy Angels and blessed Saints are 
always crying alas ! alas ! and woe ! woe ! over the loss of vocations, and the disappoint- 
ment of hopes, and the scorn of God’s love, and the ruin of souls. One generation 
succeeds another, and whenever they look down upon earth from their golden thrones, 
they see scarcely anything but a multitude of guardian spirits, downcast and sad, each 
following his own charge, in anxiety, in terror, or in despair, vainly endeavoring to 
shield him from the enemy, and failing because he will not be shielded. Times come 
and go, and man will not believe that that is to be which is not yet, or that what now is 
only continues for a season and is not eternity. The end is the trial; the world 
passes; it is but a pageant and a scene; the lofty palace crumbles, the busy city is mute, 
the ships of Tarshish have sped away. On heart and flesh death is coming; the veil is 
breaking. Departing soul, how hast thou used thy talents, thy opportunities, the light 
poured around thee, the warnings given thee, the grace inspired into thee? O my Lord 
and Saviour, support me in that hour in the strong arms of Thy Sacraments, and by the 
fresh fragrance of Thy consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the 
holy oil sign and seal me, and Thy own Body be my food, and Thy Blood my sprinkling; 
and let my sweet Mother Mary breathe on me, and my Angel whisper peace to me, and 
my glorious Saints, and my own dear Father, Philip, smile on me; that in them 
all, and through them all, I may receive the gift of perseverance, and die, as I desire to 
live, in Thy faith, in Thy Church, in Thy service, and in Thy love. 

478 


Why am I a Catholic? 


How to Convince your Protestant Neighbor 


By 

Rev. S. M. Brandi, S. J. 
479 




W t)% Aw I a Catholic? 

or, How to Convince Your Protestant neighbor. 

A Concise, Logical, and Learned Argument, in which it is Proved that the 
Catholic is the One and Only True Church. 

T IS CLEAR that my answer to the question, ‘Why am I a 
Catholic?” must shape itself according to what I conceive to be 
the religious position of my interrogator. I cannot well state a 
case until I know what I may take for granted, nor can I begin 
a line of proof until I know how far back my demonstration is 
expected to go. This is indeed the chief difficulty which presents 
itself to one who undertakes to formulate, in a few pages of a 
review article, his reasons for the faith that is in him. Fortunately, 
however, in the present instance, I am freed from this embarrass- 
ment by the limits assigned by the editor. I am not supposed 
here to address myself to infidels, but to Christians, and ‘‘while 
assuming what is common to all — faith in the Christian revelation 
— briefly to explain the reasons why I chose to enter, or preferred to remain in the Church 
to which I belong.” 

Supposing, therefore, the fact of revelation, I assume that whoever admits the 
existence of the Christian religion and its importance, will, of course, admit that the 
profession of it, as taught and defined by Christ, is not a mere matter of choice. It 
stands to reason that religion, if once defined by the Supreme Legislator, is, as so defined 
by Him, of strict obligation. Hence it is not optional with believers in the Christian 
revelation to adopt any form of religion they please, or, to use the words of a well-known 
Unitarian writer, “ to make their own formula of belief or conviction, or to make none.” 

Christian revelation assures us that Jesus Christ taught but one religion, and that 
He made the belief and practice of it a divine law. In virtue of that supreme power 
which He had in heaven and upon earth, He gave to His Apostles, whom He specially 
called and chose from among the many disciples that surrounded Him, the divine mission 
He had received from His Heavenly Father, ‘‘As the Father hath sent me, so also I send 
you.” He commanded them to go and preach His Gospel to all nations, to teach them 

481 



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-SI 


-J 






“to observe a// things whatsoever He had commanded them” (Matt. 28: 20). Nay, He 
made the belief in His Gospel, as preached by His Apostles, an essential condition for 
salvation, emphatically declaring that “he that believeth not shall be condemned” 
(Mark 16: 16). The doctrines, therefore, of this one religion, taught us by Christ to His 
Apostles, are the objects of our belief; its precepts alone have the power to bind our will. 

Moreover, as Christ taught but one religion, so He established but one Church: 
“Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church ” (Matt. 16: 18). He always 
speaks of “ His Church,” never of “ His Churches;” and the different types employed by 
Him and His Apostles to denote the Church, necessarily imply the same oneness. It is a 
“fold,” a “kingdom,” a “body,” etc., not invisible, but visible, founded for the purpose 
of carrying out His own visible mission among all men to the end of time. To His 
Church He committed the sacred trust of His religion (Matt. 28: 19-20), and promisee 
that in teaching His Gospel it should be directed by the Holy Ghost (John 14: 16); that 
“the gates of hell should not prevail against it” (Matt. 16: 18), because it should have. 
His own divine assistance “ all days, even to the consummation of the world” (Matt. 2 i 
21). These words are addressed to the Apostles not merely as individuals; for, as such 
they were not to live “all days, even to the consummation of the world;” but inasmucl 
as they, with their lawfully appointed successors, form one moral body instituted by 
Christ to perpetuate on earth His own divine mission. And because of this His OYrt|§^- 
unfailing assistance, He could say to His Church: “ He who heareth you heareth me, and 
he who despiseth you despiseth me” (Luke 10: 16). “ He who doth not hear the Church 

let him be to thee as a heathen and a publican” (Matt. 18: 17). The Church, therefore, 
is His organ, His voice, His representative. Hence, as we are not free to embrace any 
religion we please, but must embrace His religion, so to this one Church, which He 
established, and to no other, we must belong in order to be saved. The Church is “the 
body of Christ” (I Cor. 12 : 27). Whoever, then, is not a member of this Church is not in 
union with Christ, the head. 

Hence, to the question proposed as the heading of this paper, “ Why am I a Catholic ?’ 
my answer is plain: I am a Catholic, because a careful examination of the nature and 
notes or characteristic marks of the religious society founded by Christ convinces me, 
beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the Catholic Church is the one true Church 
established on earth by Jesus Christ. 

There can be no doubt that if Jesus Christ obliges all men to “hear the Church” 
which He established, and, consequently, to obey her, and to be subject to her, He must 
have given all men the means to know her with certainty. He must have impressed 
upon her certain prominent characteristics, by which she could be clearly recognized as 
the divinely authorized teacher of men, to lead them in the way of truth and salvation. 
His perfect justice required it; otherwise He would have given a command, without 
making its fulfillment possible, As we admit, therefore, that He obliged us to hear His 
Church, we are bound to admit also that He gave His Church these distinctive notes or 
marks by which sne can be recognized. 

482 


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But what are these important marks by which all ages have infallibly recognized 
the true Church of Christ? They are well known. Thus the Apostles’ Creed and the 
Nicene Creed, which are so peculiarly sacred to all Christians, and which “may be proved 
by the most certain warrants of Holy Scripture” (8th of 39 Art. of the Church of Eng- 
land), expressly affirm the existence of these marks. They are four — Unity, Holiness, 
Catholicity, and Apostolicity. “/ believe in the One , Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." 
These four marks, therefore, when found together, manifest the Church which all ages 
have recognized as the true Church of Christ — the Church in which our forefathers 
believed. 

Now all these marks I find nowhere except in the Catholic Church. Therefore, I 
must conclude that the Catholic Church is the only true Church of Christ. 

A mere glance at the profession of faith of the Catholic Church, at her catechisms, or 
theological treatises, at her books of instruction as they are published in various countries, 
will suffice to show that her members “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” 
And as they have but one Lord and one baptism, so also they have but one faith (Eph. 4: 
3-5). “ They are,” as Tertullian well said of the primitive Christians, “each what all are 

and all what each is.” Catholics, however far apart in time and place, however separated 
by conflicting interests, inclinations, or national prejudices, are all intimately united in 
religion, and constitute one great people, one fold, one kingdom, professing the same 
doctrines, and acknowledging one supreme authority, viz. : the authority of the Roman 
Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ, and the Successor of St. Peter. 

This twofold unity of faith and government is an essential property of the true 
Church of Christ. And, indeed, if the members of Christ’s mystical body were not 
animated by the same faith, how could they be said to be “members of member,” or, as 
we may read in the revised version, “severally members thereof?” (I Cor. 12 : 27). How 
could their unity be compared to that which exists between the Eternal Father and Elis 
Divine Son, and be a proof to the world of the divinity of Jesus Christ? (John 17 : 20-21). 
And if the Church were not one in government, how could it be said to be a kingdom? A 
kingdom necessarily conveys the idea of a society strictly one, and this implies one 
supreme authority. It is a fact, moreover, that our Lord ordained that His Church 
should have one universal pastor. It was to Peter alone that He addressed these words: 
“Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona .... and I say to thee, that thou art Peter 
(Cephas), and upon this rock (Cephas) I will build my Church, .... and I will give. 
to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ” (Matt. 16 : 18-19). That Peter is “ the rock ” 
is not only evident from the context and the common interpretation of the Fathers, but 
it is also admitted by the most learned Protestant commentators. Thus Bloomfield 
(Comm, in loc.) testifies that this is the interpretation of “almost every modern (Pro- 
testant) expositor of any note.” I cannot better explain the relation of Christ and 
Peter, as foundations of the Church, than in the words of St. Leo ((a. d. 44°): “As my 
Father has manifested My divinity to thee,” he says, paraphrasing Christ’s address to 
Peter, “I make known to thee thy excellencies : for thou art Peter, that is, as I am the 

4S3 


ti) 




inviolable Rock, who maketh both one, I, the foundation, other than which no one can 
lay; nevertheless, thou also art a rock, because thou art strengthened by my power, so 
that those things which belong to me by nature are common to thee with me by partici- 
pation” (Serm. 4 de Assumpt.). And Christ fulfilled His promise, for, as St. John 
relates in the twenty-first chapter of his Gospel, our Saviour, after His resurrection, 
addressing the same Apostle, committed to him the care of His Church. ‘‘Feed my 
lambs, feed my sheep.” St. Ambrose (a. d. 370) declares that Christ appointed Peter 
to feed the lambs and the sheep, “in order that He, who was the more perfect, might 
hold the government” (in Lucam. 50: 10, n. 176). St. Jerome (a. d. 385) assigns the 
reason why our Lord constituted a head for His Church. “One is chosen amongst the 
twelve, that a head being established, the occasion of schism may be removed” (Ad 
Jovin 50: 1, n. 26); and St. Optatus (a. d. 368), addressing the Donatists, says that the 
Episcopal chair in the city of Rome was bestowed first upon Peter, “ head of the Apostles, 
whence he was called Cephas,” and that “in communion with that chair unity was to be 
preserved by all.” The Catholic Church preserves this communion with the chair of 
Peter, the See of Rome, and this is the reason why it is commonly called “The Roman 
Catholic Church.” 

In the Catholic Church, again, I find that holiness which must characterize the true 
Church of Christ. By her doctrines and the administration of the sacraments the true 
Church of Christ is to carry on the work of Christ, and so attain the end for which she was 
instituted — the sanctification of her members. And this is precisely what the Catholic 
' Church does. 

Let me take, for instance, her doctrine concerning the sacraments, and it will clearly 
appear how, by her ministry, she sanctifies every stage and condition of life. She teaches 
that we are born in a state of sin (Rom. 5 : 12), and, therefore, that before we can live the 
life of grace, we must be purified from our guilt — we must receive a spiritual birth (John 
3: 5). And this she gives us by means of the Sacrament of Baptism (Matt. 28: 19). 
After being spiritually born our life of grace is but weak. We are, indeed, Christians, 
but we have to become strong and perfect Christians; and we are made such, she teaches 
us, by receiving from her the Sacrament of Confirmation (Acts 8 : 15-17). Furthermore, 
as in temporal life, so also in the spiritual, we stand in need of nourishment — our souls 
must be frequently fed with “the bread of life” (John 6: 48) ; and this she gives us in the 
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which, as we know again from her divine teaching, is 
the true body and blood of Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine (John 6: 
51-52 ; Matt. 26: 26-28). But to be perfect is not human. We are liable to fall into sin 
and lose thereby the state of grace. We stand in need, therefore, of some healing remedy 
for sin. This necessary remedy she provides for us in the Sacrament of Penance, in 
which, by the priest’s absolution, given to us by the authority of Christ delegated to him 
(John 20: 22-23), joined with contrition, confession, and satisfaction, the sins which were 
committed after baptism are forgiven. Again: the Church knows that it is at the time 
of our death that we are in the greatest spiritual need. Weakened by disease, we are 

484 


less able to withstand the attacks of the enemy of our salvation. This special assistance 
which we need then she communicates to us in the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, the 
anointing of the sick mentioned by St. James (5: 14-15). In religion, to sanctify 
ourselves, we stand in need of spiritual teachers and guides — of men who are ‘‘ministers 
of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (I Cor. 4:1); and these are supplied, 
together with the powers and graces necessary for them, by the Sacrament of Holy 
Orders (II Tim. 1 : 6). And, finally, she sanctifies the married state by the Sacrament of 
Matrimony, which she considers as the emblem of that sacred union which exists between 
Christ and His Church (Eph. 5 : 25-32). This, she teaches us, has been instituted to give 
to married persons the graces required for the fulfillment of their duties and for the 
religious training of their children. 

Assisted by the Holy Ghost, who gives efficacy to her ministry, the Catholic Church is 
ever gathering new members into her fold, and implanting in them the principle of 
supernatural life, and by the practices of devotion she inculcates, she fosters that life in 
all. And if some of her children are not actually saints, it is only because they do not 
live in accordance with their faith. In fact, in every age and in every land, she has been 
and is the fruitful mother of saints, and thousands of her sons and daughters renounce all 
worldly honors and enjoyments, in order to consecrate all that they have, and all that 
they are, to the service of God and of their fellow-men, always ready to lay dowm their 
lives for them. Witness those heroic men who vowed to attend the lepers, and bear the 
awful consequences of their self-devotion; witness those who solemnly vowed to remain 
in slavery themselves, if they could not otherwise redeem the captives; witness those 
many priests and sisters of charity who lay down their lives in every epidemic. In a 
word, with an activity and zeal for souls, which even her enemies are forced to admit, the 
Catholic Church leaves nothing undone for the conversion of sinners, for the instruction 
of the ignorant, for the relief of the poor of Christ. Her many missions in every land, 
her schools of every degree, for the rich and poor, her books of devotion in every tongue, 
her hospitals, asylums, and charitable institutions of every kind, are so many proofs of 
her untiring zeal in fulfilling her divine mission to bring all to Christ. 

The true Church of Christ has always been and must always be “ Catholic ” according 
to those words of the Apostles’ Creed: “ I believe in the holy Catholic Church.” Hence 
we find the term Catholic used by the Fathers as a distinctive mark of the true Church. 
St. Ignatius (a. d. 107), writing to the Church of Smyrna, says: ‘‘Where the bishop is, 
there let the multitude of believers be; even as where Jesus Christ is, there is the 
Catholic Church.” This catholicity of the true Church, instituted by Christ, is threefold — 
catholicity of extension, “ going to teach all nations;” catholicity of doctrine, “teaching 
them to observe all things;” catholicity of duration, ‘‘I am with you all days, even to 
the consummation of the world.” Catholicity, then, implies a multitude of members 
spread throughout the whole world, in all ages, and professing the same doctrines. Now 
this is exactly what I find in the Church to which I belong. Her members far outnumber 
all the other Christian denominations taken together. According to the London Scientific 

485 


Miscellany, there are over 254.000,000 Catholics. These are spread all over the world, 
so that there is no civilized or savage country known where the Catholic Church is not 
actually established, and carrying out the work of Christ. “The Catholic Church is so- 
called,’’ says St. Augustine, “because it is diffused throughout the world” (Ep. 52, ad 
Sever, n. 1). Catholics can repeat to-day what Tertullian ( a . d . 199) said of the Catholics 
of his time, “We have filled every place, cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your 
very camps, your tribes, companies, palaces, senate, forum! We leave you but your 
temples ” (Apol. 22). And what is more important, the Church is so diffused holds every- 
where the same faith, has the same constitution, the same sacraments, the same form of 
government. She is Catholic as she is one. To the question, then, “Why am I a 
Catholic?” I might well answer in the words of St. Augustine: “Many things detain me 

in the bosom of the Catholic Church The name itself of the Catholic Church keeps 

me: a name which, in the midst of so many heresies, this Church alone has, not without 
cause, so held possession of, that while all heretics would fain have themselves called 
Catholics, yet, to the query of any stranger, ‘Where is the meeting of the Catholic Church 
held?’ they would not dare to point out their own basilica or house ” (C. Ep. Fund, c. 4). 

By “Apostolic Church” is meant the Church which Christ established by means of 
His Apostles, whom, as the Gospels tell us, He selected, instructed, ordained, and com- 
missioned to perpetuate among men to the end of time His divine mission. The Church, 
then, to be Apostolic, must be the Church established by the Apostles, that is, it must 
have an Apostolic origin, it must teach the same doctrine which the Apostles taught, and 
her ministers must derive their authority from those same Apostles. 

That the Catholic Church has an Apostolic origin is a fact which cannot be ques- 
tioned. Dr. Lardner, a Protestant writer, speaking of the foundation of the Church of 
Rome by St. Peter, assures us that “this is the general, uncontradicted, disinterested 
testimony of ancient writers in the several parts of the world,” and he adds, “it is not for 
our honor, nor for our interest, either as Christians or Protestants, to deny the truths of 
events ascertained by early and well-attested tradition” (Works, vol. 6, p. 253, Lon., 
1838). “It is the universal testimony of tradition,” says Dr. T. Schaff, “that Peter 
labored last in Rome” (Hist of the Ap. Church,” p. 362, N. Y., 1853). And Dr. 
Whiston, another Protestant, speaking of the same subject, expresses himself in a still 
stronger way. “This is so clear,” he says, “ in Christian antiquity, that it is a shame for 
a Protestant to confess that it has ever been denied by Protestants ” (“ Memoirs,” London 
1750). It will suffice, then, to cite a few testimonies from the early doctors of the Church. 
Thus St. Cyprian calls the Roman See the “See of Peter” (Ep. 55, n. 14). St. Jerome 
calls Pope Damasus “the Successor of the Fisherman,” and his chair “the chair of 
Peter” (Ep. 15, n. 2). And St. Augustine calls Linus, the Roman Bishop, “the Suc- 
cessor of St. Peter” (Ep. 53, n. 2). 

A careful examination, moreover, of the doctrines of the Catholic Church will prove 
clearly to any unprejudiced mind, that she teaches whole and entire the very same 
doctrines that were taught by the Apostles. This I find to be admitted by Protestants 

486 


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themselves, at least as far^as it concerns thdse jioint^ Jvfiieh they call fundamental” of 
“the original elements of the GoftpejjT; - See ex.^gr/Hditg'e’s” Systematic Theology ” (p. 3, 
c. 1 7 > If 3). and Hopkins, “End of Controversy' Controverted ” (Lett. 19). What they 
try in vain to prove is, that the Catholic Church, together with those doctrines, has taught 
many errors, that she has added many new points of doctrine to the original deposit of 
faith. I have diligently examined each and every one of these points, and the result 
of this study has been to convince me the more, that the so-called additions are 
not new articles of faith, but only authoritative declarations of the teaching Church that 
the doctrines in question had been revealed to the Apostles, and had come down to us 
either by Scripture or Tradition. 

The last condition required for the Apostolic Church is an Apostolic ministry, that is. 
ministers who derive their powers from the Apostles, and are in communion with the 
centre of unity which Christ established, and from which they derive their mission. The 
necessity of this communion with the centre of unity is evident from the few remarks 
already made on the unity of the Church. In confirmation of this, it will be enough to 
quote here two of the many authorities I have examined on this subject. St. Optatus 
speaking of “the chair of Rome, in which Peter sat,” tells us that “in communion with 
this chair unity is to be preserved by all.” And that great saint and doctor of the/ 
Church, St. Jerome, thus addresses the Bishop of Rome, Pope Damasus: “I speak with 
the Successor of the Fisherman, and the Disciple of the Cross. Following no chief but 
Christ, I am joined in communion with your beatitude, that is, with the chair of Peter. 
On that rock I know that the Church was built. Whosoever shall eat the Lamb outside 
that house is profane. Whosoever does not gather with you scattereth ” (Ep. 1 5, n. 2). 

It is an historical fact, which no scholar has ever denied, that the priests and bishops 
of the Catholic Church can trace their lineage back to an Apostolic origin. This is 
clearly demonstrated by following the succession of pontiffs from St. Peter to Leo XIII., 
in the Apostolic See of Rome, with which centre of unity no other priesthood but that of 
the Catholic Church is in communion. I may add, also, that those denominations which 
lay any claim to apostolicity for orders, as for instance, the Church of England, and its 
daughter, the Episcopal Church in the United States, found this their claim on the fact 
of having received these orders from bishops that had been in communion with the 
Roman Catholic Church. Again, therefore, with St. Augustine, I answer that I am 
a Catholic because “In the Catholic Church . . . the succession of priests from the See 
itself of the Apostle Peter [Rome] even to the present Episcopate, holds me” (Contr. 
Ep. Man. n. 2). 

But, once more, if I consider the express will and purpose of Christ in establishing 
His Church on earth, I find that she shall continue to the end of time, unchanged in her 
internal and externarconstitution, and prfss^ssing^gJLHr^^ very"samegt^ts, marks, etc., with 
which she was endowed by her Divii^Potj^^^^FOT the mission of the Church is the mis- 
sion of Christ, “to save Sja^sJX^^duustJ^t, fihferefore, as long as there are souls to 
save. She is built on a rq 4 ®S*fo the gates of hell s ff&l never prevail against her.” 


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Hence it is impossible for her ever to become corrupt in her faith, in her sacraments, or 
in her g^ernment. For the moment she should fail in any of these, that moment the 
gatq$ of hell would have prevailed against her. To as^erffhat at any time the Church of| 
Chrjrst failed is to deny the truth of Christ’s promise tb-jjis Church, “I am with you all 
day||b^^tO the consummation of the world.” “There are some,” St. Augustine tells 
US, ^ who say : she that was the Church of all nations, is already no more ; she has perished. 
Thi^ say they who are not in her. The impudent assertion!” (Ps. 1 61 
If, therefore, the Church cannot fail or become corrupt, there can be no reason for aiiy 
reformation in her faith, her sacraments, or government. Every attempt at such 
reformation is ah explicit denial of her indefectibility. 

But if the true Church of Christ was to last the same “all days,” even to tb € ehd of' 
the world, then if. has always been in existence, from the days of the Apostles to our 
own. It existed, therefore, when Luther and Calvin and Henry VIII raised the standard 
of revolt against the Catholic Church, in which they were baptized and educated; it 
existed when each established a separate and independent Church of his own. And 
if it existed, it could be no other than the Roman Catholic Church. For it is a fact that, 
at the time, there existed no other Church distinct from her, and recognized by the Re- 
formers as the true Church of Christ. 

It is evident, therefore, that the “Reformers,” and consequently those who have 
followed in their footsteps, have no divine authority to preach, to administer the sacra- 
ments, and to govern Christ’s mystical body. They certainly did not receive it from 
the Catholic Church, from which they were separated, and by which they were condemned. 

^ Luther was a priest, but never a bishop. Calvin was a simple cleric, and never received 
the order of priesthood. Henry VIII, “the spiritual head” of the Church of England, 







Now is it proved that Christian Protestants constitute the Church of Christ? This should 
be one in faith and government; its members should be so united as to be “members of 
member” and constitute one body, one kingdom, one fold. In vain do I look for the 
unity among Protestants. They do not constitute one church, but many independent 
churches. They have not “one faith” or creed, but many creeds. And no wonder, for 
there no unity of faith can be found where the only principle of this unity is denied, and 
a principle is set up in its place which necessarily causes dissension. This false principle 
is their rule of faith. As long as they are told that every man has the right and duty 
to interpret the Scriptures for himself, as long as the private interpretation of the Bible 
is to settle all religious controversies, so long will religious division be perpetuated, not 
only among different denominations, but even among the members of the same denomi- 
nation. If Washington and his colleagues in promulgating the Constitution of this 
Republic had said, “ Let each one read his Constitution for himself, explain it for himself, 
and follow out in practice his own interpretation of it,” we certainly should not be 
“known and read of all men” as one united nation. In its stead, we should have had a 
thousand different political sections and petty governments. How did these great 
statesmen guard against this danger? They framed the Constitution, and at the 
same time established a supreme tribunal, and an authoritative power, which should 
interpret its meaning ultimately and definitively, by whose decision all, without ex- 
ception, from the President to the beggar, are bound to abide. 

The true rule of faith is the living and infallible authority of the Church of Christ. 
This, and no other, is the supreme tribunal, and the supreme judge in matters of faith. 
This is the source and safeguard of unity. I have already shown that Christ, our Lord, 
established in His Church an authority to whose teaching the faithful must submit. While 
it is nowhere said in the scriptures that Christ gave to His Apostles, who then constituted 
the Church, a mission to write , we find it expressly stated in the last verses of St. Matthew’s 
Gospel that He committed to His Church the mission of teaching all nations. We know 
also that He made submission to this teaching a condition of salvation (Mark 16: 1 6) , 
assuring us that he who hears the Church hears Him. Because He is always with His 
teaching Church, and the Spirit of truth, the Paraclete, abides with her forever (John 14: 
16). How could Christ make obedience to this teaching authority a condition for 
salvation, and declare that in hearing the Church, I should hear Him; that the gates of 
hell should never prevail against it; that the spirit of truth is the Spirit of His Church, 
if that Church had no divine authority to teach, or were fallible in teaching? 

Those who deny this authoritative and infallible teaching of the Church, if consistent, 
must give up all divine faith. “I should not believe the Gospel,” says St. Augustine, 
“unless the authority of the Church moved me thereto” (C. Ep. Fund, c. 5). The 
Bible, without this living and infallible authority, leaves men necessarily in a state of 
doubt. For before they can believe any article of faith, on the sole authority of the 
Bible as the word of God, they must first be infallibly sure that the book, in which they 
find that article, is the word of God, aijd^SQt the word of man; just as before we accept 





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ow can Protestants settle that 
the Catholic Church, be infallibly 
Bible, as they have it, containing so man 
inspiration? This evidently is not found fn 


nited States, we Aust first be 
n^f°is really the Constitution of the United Stat__ 
i t. ,e.^ how can they, without the authority of 7 
Bible is the word of God? That thq 
and chapters, and verses, is a work of 
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the question would still remain, how do you know that this assertion is itself authentic? 
How do you know that this assertion is of God ? They may believe that book to be the 
Word of God, because they think so, or because they fancy that the Spirit bears wit- 
ness within them, or because this is the opinion of learned men, or even because their 
own denomination tells them so. But are they infallibly sure that they are correct? 
All these learned men are fallible; they acknowledge it themselves; their own denomi- 
nation or Church professes to be not infallible, and consequently to be liable to err. 

Moreover, this fallible authority is human authority. Will they believe on human 
fallible authority that the Bible is the Word of God? They may, if they choose, but 
then let them be logical, and believe whatever is in the Bible on the same authority — in 
other words, let them give up divine faith. “ Prove to me,” says Rousseau, “ the neces- 
sity of authority in religion, and to-morrow I will be a Catholic.” That this authority 
is absolutely necessary is evident from the fact that without it the unity of the Church 
of Christ cannot subsist; without it the Church of Christ is a purely human institution; 
without it in religion we are lost in doubt. This divine and infallible authority I find 
in the Catholic Church, and nowhere outside of it; for the different denominations that 
have sprung up since the time of the “Reformation” positively reject it. 

These, then, are some of the reasons “why I am a Catholic.” I remain in the Church 
to which I belong, to use St. Augustine’s words, “This is the Holy Church, the One 
Church, the True Church, the Catholic Church, which fights against all errors. She 
may be attacked, but cannot be overcome. All errors have gone far from her . . . but 
she remains unsevered from her own root, in her own vine, in her own charity. The 
gates of hell shall not prevail against her” (“De Symbolo,” n. 14). 


(ag 







The Importance of the Religious Education 
of Children 

The Powerful Intercession of the Blessed Virgin 
in Behalf of Her Children 


By 

St. Alphonsus de Liguori 

Doctor of the Church 
491 






Education of Children. 


HE GOSPEL tells us that a good plant cannot produce bad 
fruit and that a bad one cannot produce good fruit. Learn from 
this that a good father brings up good children. But, if parents 
be wicked, how can the children be virtuous? Have you ever, 
says the Redeemer, in the Gospel, seen grapes gathered from 
thorns, or figs from thistles ? And, in like manner, it is impossible, 
or rather very difficult, to find children virtuous, who are brought 
up by immoral parents. Fathers and mothers, be attentive to 
this duty, which is of great importance to the eternal salvation of 
yourselves and of your children. Be attentive, young men and 
young women, who have not as yet chosen a state of life. If you 
wish to marry, learn the obligations which you can contract with 
regard to the education of your children ; and learn also that if you do not fulfill them, 
you shall bring yourselves and all your children to damnation. 

I shall divide this subject into two points. In the first, I shall show how important 
it is to bring up children in habits of virtue, and in the second, I shall show with what 
care and diligence a parent ought to labor to bring them up well. 


How Very Important it is to Bring Up Children in Habits of Virtue. 

A father owes two obligations to his children: he is bound to provide for their 
corporal wants and to educate them in habits of virtue. 

It is not necessary at present to say more on the first obligation, than that there are 
some fathers more cruel than the most ferocious of wild beasts, for these do not forget to 
nourish their offspring; but certain parents squander away in eating, drinking, and 
gaming, all their property, or all the fruits of their industry, and allow their children to 
die of hunger. 

But let us come to the education, which is the subject most important. It is certain 
that a child’s future good or ill conduct depends on his being brought up well or ill. 
Nature itself teaches every parent to attend to the education of his offspring. He who 
has given them being ought to endeavor to make life useful to them. God gives children 

493 


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to parents, not that they may assist the family, but 
fear of God, and be directed in the way of etern^Kalvatjom 
Chrysostom, “ a great deposit in chilcf?eftf tts att 
Children have not been given to parents a^a f)^e^ept of which t 1% may dispose as they 
lease, but as a trust, for which, if lost^rough their negligence, they must render an 
account to God. The Scripture tells^jpiat when a father observes the divine law, both 
he and his children shall prosper. That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, 
when thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of God. The good or ill conduct of a 
parent may be known by those who have not witnessed it, from the life which his children 
lead. For by the fruit the tree is known. A father, says Ecclesiasticus, who leaves a family 
when he departs this life, is as if he had not died; because his sons remain and exhibit his 
habits and character. His father is dead, and he is as if he were not dead, for he hath left one 
behind him that is like himself. When we find a son addicted to blasphemies, to obsceni- 
ties, and to theft, we have reason to suspect that such too was the character of the father. 
For a man is known by his children. 

Hence Origen says, that on the day of judgment parents shall have to render an 
account for all the sins of their children. Hence, he who teaches his son to live w T ell, 
shall die a happy and tranquil death. He that teacheth his son . . . when he died he was 
not sorrowfid, neither was he confounded. And he shall save his soul by means of his 
children; that is, by the virtuous education which he has given them. She shall be saved 
through child-bearing. But, on the other hand, a very uneasy and unhappy death shall 
be the lot of those who have labored only to increase the possessions or to multiply the 
honors of their family; or who have sought only to lead a life of ease and pleasure, but 
have not watched over the morals of their children. St. Paul says that such parents are 
worse than infidels. But if any man have not care of his own, and especially of those of his 
house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Were fathers or mothers to 
lead a life of piety and continual prayer, and to communicate every day, they should be 
damned if they neglected the care of their children. Would to God that certain parents 
paid as much attention to their children as they do to their horses! How careful are 
they to see that their horses are fed and well trained ! And they take no pains to make 
their children attend at catechism, hear Mass, or go to confession. “We take more 
care,” says St. John Chrysostom, “of our mules and horses, than of the children.” 

If all fathers fulfilled their duty of watching over the education of their children, we 
Should have but few crimes and few executions. By the bad education which parents 
give to their offspring, they cause their children, says St. John/ Chrysostom, to rush 
into many grievous vices ; and thus they deliver them up to the, hands of the executioner. 
Hence, in Lacedaemon, a parent, as being the cause of all the |rregujArities of his children, 
was justly punished for their crimes with greater seveAt# AMw&fchj ? children themselves. 
Great indeed is the misfortune of the child who has vyfjl i.QT#5 tfBmmt s , who are incapable of 
bringing up their children in the fear of God, they see their children 

engaged in dangerous friendships and in correcting and chastising 




them, rather take compassion on them, and say: “ What can be done? They are young; 
they must take their course.” Oh, what wicked maxims! what a cruel education! Do 
you hope that when your children grow up they shall become saints? Listen to what 
Solomon says: A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart 
from it" A young man who has contracted a habit of sin will not abandon it even in his 
old age. “ His bones,” says Job, “ shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall 
sleep with him in the dust.” When a young person has lived in evil habits, his bones shall 
be filled with the vices of his youth, so that he will carry them with him to death; and 
the impurities, blasphemies, and hatred to which he was accustomed in his youth, shall 
accompany him to the grave, and shall sleep with him after his bones shall be reduced to 
dust and ashes. It is very easy, when they are small, to train up children to habits of 
virtue; but when they have come to manhood, it is equally difficult to correct them if 
they have learned habits of vice. But, let us come to the second point — that is, to the 
means of bringing up children in the practice of virtue. I entreat you, fathers and 
mothers, to remember what I now say to you, for on it depends the eternal salvation of 
your own souls, and of the souls of your children. 

The Care and Diligence With Which Parents Ought to Endeavor to Bring Up 
Their Children in Habits of Virtue. 

St. Paul teaches sufficiently in a few words, in what the proper education of children 
consists. He says that it consists in discipline and correction. “ A nd you, fathers, provoke 
not your children to anger; but bring them tip in the discipline and correction of the Lord.” 

Discipline, which is the same as the religious regulation of the morals of children, 
implies an obligation of educating them in habits of virtue by word and example. First, 
by words : a good father should often assemble his children and instill into them the holy 
fear of God. It was in this manner that Tobias brought up his little son. The father 
taught him from his childhood to fear the Lord and to fly from sin. And from his infancy 
he taught him to fear God and to abstain from sin. The Wise Man says that a well-educated 
son is the support and consolation of his father. “ Instruct thy son, and he shall refresh 
thee, and shall give delight to thy soul.” But as a well-instructed son is the delight of his 
father’s soul, so an ignorant child is a source of sorrow to a father’s heart, for the ignorance 
of his obligations as a Christian is always accompanied with a bad life. Thomas de 
Cantimpre relates that, in the year 1248, an ignorant priest was commanded, in a certain 
synod, to make a discourse. But while he was greatly agitated by the command, the 
devil appeared to him, and instructed him to say: “The rectors of infernal darkness 
salute the rectors of parishes, and thank them for their negligence in instructing the 
people; because from ignorance proceed the misconduct and the damnation of many.” 
The same is true of negligent parents. 

In the first place, a parent ought to instruct his children in the truths of faith, and 
particularlv in the four principal mysteries. First, that there is but one God, the Creator 


495 




and Lord of all things; secondly, that this God is a remunerator, who in the next life shall 
reward the good with the eternal glory of paradise, and shall punish the wicked with the 
everlasting torments of hell; thirdly, the mystery of the holy Trinity — that is, that in 
God there are Three Persons, who are only one God, because they have but one essence; 
fourthly, the mystery of the incarnation of the divine Word — the Son of God, and true 
God, who became man in the womb of Mary, and suffered and died for our salvation. 
Should a father or mother say: I myself do not know these mysteries, can such an excuse 
be admitted? — that is, can one sin excuse another? If you are ignorant of these mysteries 
you are obliged to learn them, and afterwards teach them to your children. At least, 
send your children to the catechism. Oh, what a misery to see so many fathers and 
mothers who are unable to instruct their children in the most necessary truths of faith, 
and who, instead of sending their sons and daughters to the Christian doctrine on festivals, 
employ them in messages, or other occupations of little moment; and when grown up 
they know not what is meant by mortal sin, by hell, or eternity. They do not even 
know the Creed, the Our Father, or the Hail Mary, which every Christian is bound to 
learn under pain of mortal sin. 

Religious parents not only instruct their children in these things which are the 
most important, but they also teach them the acts which ought to be made every morning 
after rising. They teach them, first, to thank God for having preserved their life during 
the night; secondly, to offer to God all the good actions which they will perform, and all 
the pains which they shall suffer during the day; thirdly, to implore of Jesus Christ and 
most holy Mary to preserve 1;hem from all sin during the day. They teach them to 
make every evening an examination of conscience and an act of contrition. They also 
teach them to make every day the acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, to recite the Rosary, 
and to visit the Blessed Sacrament. Some good fathers of families are careful to get a 
book of meditations read, and to have mental prayer in common for half an hour every 
day. This is what the Holy Ghost exhorts you to practice. ‘ ‘ Hast thou children ? Instruct 
them and bow doivn their neck from their childhood .” Endeavor to train them from 
their infancy to these religious habits and when they grow up they shall persevere 
in them. Accustom them also to go to confession and communion every week. Be 
careful to make them go to confession when they arrive at the age of seven, and to 
communion at the age of ten. This is the advice of St. Charles Borromeo. As soon as 
they attain the use of reason make them receive the sacrament of Confirmation. 

It is also very useful to infuse good maxims into the infant minds of children. Oh ! 
what ruin is brought upon his children by the father who teaches them worldly 
maxims, “You must,” some people say to their children, “seek the esteem and 
applause of the world. God is merciful; he takes compassion on certain sins.” Miser- 
able the young man who sins in obedience to such maxims. Good parents teach very 
different maxims to their children. Queen Blanche, the mother of St. Louis, King of 
France, used to say to him: “My son, I would rather see you dead in my arms than in 
the state of sin.” O brethren! let it be your practice also to infuse into your children 

496 



S;\ certain^fnaxims 


house in which their virtue might 
Sarah to Abraham, “this 


'bmpany / 




bondwoman and her son." She wished to have Ishmael, the son of Agar the bondwoman 
banished from her house that her son Isaac might not learn his vicious habits. Bad 
companions are the ruin of young persons. A father should not only remove the evil 
which he witnesses, but he is also bound to inquire after the conduct of his children and 
to seek information from domestics and from externs regarding the places which his sons 
frequent when they leave home regarding their ocupations and companions. 

He should take from them every musical instrument which is to them an occasion 
of going out at night and all forbidden weapons which may lead them into quarrels or 
disputes. 

A father ought to forbid his children ever to bring into his house stolen goods — 
such as fowl, fruit, and the like. When Tobias heard the bleating of a goat in his house, 
he said; “ Take heed , lest perhaps it be stolen; restore ye it to its owners.” How often does 
it happen that, when a child steals something, the mother says to him; “ Bring it to me, 
my son.” Parents should prohibit to their children all games which bring destruction 
on their families and on their own souls, and also masks, scandalous comedies, and 
certain dangerous conversations, and parties of pleasure. 

A father should remove frqm his house romances, which pervert young persons, 
and all bad books which contain pernicious maxims, tales of obscenity, or of profane 
love. 

Another obligation of parents is, to correct the faults of the family. Bring them 
up in the discipline and correction of the Lord. There are fathers and mothers who witness 
faults in the family, and remain silent. 

Through fear of displeasing their children some fathers neglect to correct them; 
but, if you saw your son falling into a pool of water, and in danger of being drowned, 
would it not be savage cruelty not to catch him by the hair and save his life ? 

“ He that spareth the rod hateth his son." If you love your sons correct them, and, 
while they are growing up chastise them, even with the rod, as often as it may be neces- 
sary. I say, with the rod, but not with the stick ; for you must correct them like a father, 
and not like a galley sergeant. You must be careful not to beat them when you are in a 
passion; for you shall then be in danger of beating them with too much severity, and the 
correction will be without fruit ; for they then believe that the chastisement is the effect 
of anger, and not of a desire on your part to see them amend their lives. I have also 
said that you should correct them “while they are growing up;” for, when they arrive at 
manhood, your correction will be of little use. You must then abstain from correcting 
them with the hand; otherwise, they shall become more perverse, and shall lose their 
respect for you. But of what use is it to correct children by so many injurious words 
and by so many imprecations? Deprive them of some part of their meals, of certain 
articles of dress, or shut them up in a room. But I have said enough. 

Dearly beloved, draw from these plain facts the conclusion, that he who has brought 
up his children badly shall be severely punished; and that he who has trained them to 
habits of virtue shall receive a great reward. 

498 


There is nothing shorter than time but there is nothing more valuable. There 
is nothing shorter than time because the past is no more, the future is uncertain, and the 
present is but a moment. This is what Jesus Christ meant when he said: “ A little 
while, and now you shall not see Me.” We may say the same of our life, which according 
to St. James, is but a vapor, which is soon scattered forever. For what is your life? 
It is a vapor which appeareth for a little while. But the time of this life is as precious as it 
is short; for in every moment if we spend it well, we can acquire treasures of merits for 
heaven ; but, if we employ time badly, we may in each moment commit sin and merit hell. 

I mean to show you how precious is every moment of the time which God gives 
us, not to lose it, and much less to commit sin, but to perform good works and to save 
our souls. 

Thus, saith the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of sal- 
vation I have helped thee.” St. Paul explains this passage and says that the acceptable 
time is the time in which God has determined to confer his favors upon us. He then 
adds: “ Behold , now is the acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation.” The 
Apostle exhorts us not to spend unprofitably the present time, which he calls the day 
of salvation; because, perhaps, after this day of salvation, there shall be no salvation 
for us. “ The time,” says the same Apostle, “A short; it remaineth that . . . they that 
weep be as though they wept not; that they that rejoice, as if they rejoiced not; and they that 
buy, as if they possessed not; and they that used this world, as if they used it not.” Since 
then, the time which we have to remain on this earth is short, the Apostle tells those 
who weep, that they ought not to weep because their sorrows shall soon pass away, and 
those who rejoice, not to fix their affections on their enjoyments because they shall soon 
have an end. Hence he concludes, that we should use this world, not to enjoy its 
transitory goods, but to merit eternal life. 

Son, says the Holy Ghost, observe the time. Son, learn to preserve time, which is 
the most precious and the greatest gift that God can bestow upon you. St. Bernardine 
of Siena teaches that time is of as much value as God; because in every moment of 
time well spent the possession of God is merited. He adds that in every instant of this 
life a man may obtain the pardon of his sins, the grace of God, and the glory of paradise. 
Hence St. Bonaventure says that “no loss is of greater moment than the loss of time.” 

But, on his part, St. Bernard says that, though there is nothing more precious than 
time, there is nothing less valuable in the estimation of men. You will see some persons 
spending four or five hours in play. If you ask them why they lose so much time, they 
answer: To amuse ourselves. Others remain half the dajr standing in the street, or 
looking out of a window. If you ask them what they are doing, they will say in reply, 
that they are passing the time. And why, says the same saint, do you lose this time? 
Why should you lose even a single hour which the mercy of God gives you to weep for 
your sins and to acquire the divine grace? 

O time, despised by men during life, how much shall you be desired at the hour of 
death, and particularly in the other world! Time is a blessing which we enjoy only in 

499 





this life; it is not enjoyed in the next; it is not found in heaven nor in hell. In hell, the 
damned exclaim with tears: “Oh that an hour were given to us!’’ They would pay 
any price for an hour or for a minute in which they might repair their eternal ruin. But 
this hour or minute they never shall have. In heaven there is no weeping; but, were 
the saints capable of sorrow, all their wailing should arise from the thought of having 
lost in this life the time in which they could have acquired greater glory and from the 
conviction that this time shall never more be given to them. A deceased Benedictine 
nun appeared in glory to a certain person, and said that she was in heaven, and in the 
enjoyment of perfect happiness; but that, if she could desire anything, it would be to 
return to life and to suffer affliction in order to merit an increase of glory. And she 
added that, to acquire the glory which corresponded to a single Ave Maria, she would 
be content to suffer till the day of judgemnt the long and painful sickness which brought 
on her death. Hence, St. Francis Borgia was careful to employ every moment of his 
time for God. When others spoke of useless things he conversed with God by holy 
affections; and so recollected was he that when asked his opinion on the subject of co: 
versation, he knew not what answer to make. Being corrected for this, he said: 

'I am content to be considered stupid rather than lose my time in vanities. 

Some of you will say: What evil am I doing? Is it not, I ask, an evil to spendfe 
/our time in plays, in conversations, and useless occupations, which are unprofitable tab 
le soul? Does God give you this time to lose it? “ Let not,” says the Holy Ghost, 

1 the part of a good gift passover thee.” The workingmen of whom St. Matthew speaks 
did no evil; they only lost time by remaining idle in the streets. But they were rebuked 
by the father of the family, saying : Why stand yon here all the day idle? On the day of 
judgment Jesus Christ shall demand an account, not only of every month and day that 
has been lost, but even of every idle word. “ Every idle word that men shall speak they 
shall render an account for it on the day of judgment.” He shall likewise demand an 
account of every moment of the time which you shall lose. According to St. Bernard, 
all time which is not spent for God is lost time. Hence the Holy Ghost says: “ Whatso - 
ver thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work nor reason . . . shall be in 
hell, whither thou art hastening.” What you can do to-day defer not till to-morrow, 
for on to-morrow you may be dead, and may be gone into another world, where you 
shall have no more time to do good, and where you shall only enjoy the reward of your 
virtues, or suffer the punishment due to your sins. “ To-day if you shall hear His voice 
harden not your hearts.” God calls you to confess your sins, to restore ill-gotten goods, 
to be reconciled with your enemies. Obey his call to-day; for it may happen that on 
to-morrow time may be no more for you, or that God will call you no more. All our 
salvation depends on corresponding with the divine calls, and at the time that 
God calls us. 

But some of you will perhaps say: I am young; after some time I will give myself 
to God. But remember that the Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ cursed the fig-tree 
.which he found without fruit, although the season for figs had not yet arrived. It was 



Tim 


5 <x> 


vj 


'V' 





I 



not the time for figs. By this the Saviour wished to signify, that man at all times, even 
in youth, should produce fruits of good works; and that otherwise, like the fig-tree, he 
shall be cursed, and shall produce no fruit for the future. “May no man hereafter eat 
any more fruit of thee forever.’’ “Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not 
from day to day; for His wrath shall come on a sudden. If you find your soul in the state 
of sin, delay not your repentance nor your confession; do not put them off even till 
to-morrrow; for, if you do not obey the voice of God calling you to-day to confess your 
sins, death may this day overtake you in sin and to-morrow there may be no hope of 
salvation for you. The devil regards the whole of our life as very short and therefore 
he loses not a moment of time, but tempts us day and night. The devil is come down 
unto you having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. The enemy, then, 
never loses time in seeking to bring us to hell, and shall we squander the time which 
God has given us to save our souls? 

You say: “ I will hereafter give myself to God.” But “why” answers St. Bernard, 
‘‘do you, a miserable sinner, presume on the future, as if the father placed time in your 
power?” Why do you presume that you will hereafter give yourself to God, as if he 
had given to you the time and opportunity of returning to him whenever you wish?- 
Job said with trembling, that he knew not whether another moment of his life remained: 
For I know not how long I shall continue, and whether after a while my Maker may take 
me away.” And you say: I will not go to confession to-day, I will think of it to-morrow. 
St. Augustine says: ‘‘How can you promise yourself another day, when you know not 
whether you shall live another hour?” ‘‘If,” says St. Teresa, ‘‘you are not prepared to 
die to-day,’ tremble, lest you die an unhappy death.” 

St. Bernard weeps over the blindness of those negligent Christians who squander 
the days of salvation and never consider that a day once lost shall never return. At the 
hour of death they shall wish for another year or for another day but they shall not have 
it ; they shall then be told that time shall be no more. What price would they not then 
give for another week, for a day, or even an hour, to prepare the account which they 
must then render to God? St. Laurence Justinian says that for a single hour they 
would give all their property, all their honors, and all their delights. But this hour shall 
not be granted to them. The priest who attends them shall say: Depart, depart im- 
mediately from this earth ; for your time is no more. ‘‘Go forth, Christian soul, from 
this world.” 

. What will it profit the sinner who has lead an irregular life, to exclaim at death: 
Oh, that I had led a life of sanctity! Oh, that I had spent my years in loving God! 
How great is the anguish of a traveler, who, when the night has fallen, perceives that 
he has missed the way, and that there is no more time to correct his mistake ! Such shall 
be the anguish at death of those who have lived many years in the world, but have not 
spent them for God. “ The night cometh when no man can work.” . Hence the Redeemer 
says to all: “ Walk whilst you have light, that the darkness overtake you not.” Walk in 
the way of salvation, now that you have the light, before you are surprised by the darkness 

501 


r 

n. S% 






of death in which you can do nothing. You can then only weep over the time which 
you have lost. 

“He hath called against me the time.” At the hour of death, conscience will remind 
us of all the time which we have had to become saints and which we have employed in 
multiplying our debts to God. It will remind us of all the calls and of all the graces 
which he has given us to make us love him, and which we have abused. At that awful 
moment we shall also see that the way of salvation is closed forever. In the midst of 
these remorses, and of the torturing darkness of death, the dying sinner shall say: O 
fool that I have been! O life misspent! 0 lost years, in which I could have gained 
treasures of merits, and become a saint! but I have neglected both, and now^ the time 
of saving my soul is gone forever. But of what use shall these wailings and lamenta- 
tions be, when the scene of this world is about to close, the lamp is on the point of being 
extinguished, and when the dying Christian has arrived at that great moment on which 
eternity depends? 

“Be you then also ready; for, at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come.” 
The Lord says: “Be prepared.” He does not tell us to to prepare ourselves when 
death approaches, but to be ready for His coming; because when we think least of death, 
the Son of man shall come and demand an account of our whole life. In the confusion 
of death, it will be most difficult to adjust our accounts, so as to appear guiltless before 
the tribunal of Jesus Christ. Perhaps death may not come upon us for twenty or thirty 
years, but it may also come very soon, perhaps in a year or in a month. If any one had 
reason to fear that a trial should take place, on which his life depended, he certainly 
would not wait for the day of the trial, but would as soon as possible employ an advocate 
to plead his cause. And what do we do? We know for certain that we must one day 
be judged, and that on the result of that judgment our eternal, not our temporal, life de- 
pends. We also know that that day may be very near at hand; and still we lose our 
time, and, instead of adjusting our accounts, we go on daily multiplying the crimes 
which will merit for us the sentence of eternal death. 

If, then, we have hitherto employed our time in offending God, let us henceforth 
endeavor to bewail our misfortune for the remainder of our life, and say continually 
with the penitent King Ezechias: “I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of 
my soul.” The Lord gives us the remaining days of life, that we may compensate the 
time that has been badly spent. “ Whilst we have time, let us work good.” Let us not 
provoke 'the Lord to punish us by an unhappy death ; and if, during the years that are 
passed, we have been foolish, and have offended Him, let us now attend to the Apostle 
exhorting us to be wise for the future, and to redeem the time we have lost. “ See therefore, 
brethren, now you walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because 
the days are evil . . . understanding what is the will of God. The days are evil.” Ac- 
cording to St. Anselm, the meaning of these words is, that the days of this life are 
evil because in them we were exposed to .a thousand temptations and dangers of 
eternal misery ; and therefore, t© escape perdition, all possible care is necessary. “ What,” 


502 






_J> 



says St. Augustine, “is meant by redeeming the time, unless, when necessary, to submit 
to temporal loss in order to gain eternal goods?” We should live only to fulfill with all 
diligence the divine will ; and, should it be necessary, jt is better to suffer in temporal 
things, than to neglect our eternal interests. 

Oh! how well did St. Paul redeem the time which he had lost! St. Jerome says, 
that though the last of the apostles, he was, on account of his great labors, the first in 
merits. “Paul, the last in order, but the first in merits, because he labored more than 
all.” Let us consider that, in each moment, we may lay up greater treasures of eternal 
goods. If the possession of all the land round which you could walk, or of all the money 
which you could count in a day, were promised you, would you lose time? or would you 
not instantly begin to walk over the ground, or to reckon the money? You now have 
it in your power to acquire in each moment eternal treasures and will you, notwithstand- 
ing, misspend your time ? Do not say that what you can do to-day you can also do to-mor- 
row; because this day shall be then lost to you, and shall never return. You have this 
day but perhaps to-morrow will not be given you. 



503 


y\\SV — 












Ik AYerc^- Ik 

O OBTAIN favors through the intercession of the Blessed 
Virgin, by practising devout exercises in her honor, “the first 
condition is, that we perform our devotions with a soul free 

from sin, or, at least, with a desire to give up sin If a 

person wish to commit sin, with the hope of being saved by the 
Blessed Virgin, he will thus render himself unworthy and 
incapable of her protection.” 

The invocation of the Virgin is only morally necessary, 
that is, without asking the aid of her prayers, it will be very 
difficult for us to obtain all the graces necessary for salvation. 
But for all adults, prayer to God is necessary as a means of 
salvation; that is, prayer to God is as necessary for those who 
attain the use of reason, as baptism is for infants, so that in God’s ordinary providence, 
it is utterly and absolutely impossible for any adult to be saved, unless he asks, not of 
the Blessed Virgin, but of God. and perseveres in asking, the graces necessary for salvation. 

Since the great Virgin Mary was raised to the dignity of Mother of the King of kings, 
the Church justly honors her, and wishes that she be honored with the glorious title of 
queen. If, says St. Athanasius, the son is king, it is but just that the mother be regarded 
as queen, and be called queen. “ If he who was born of the virgin is king, the mother who 
begot him is properly and truly esteemed a queen and lady” (Serm. de Deip). From the 
moment, adds St. Bernardine of Sienna, that Mary consented to become the Mother of 
the Eternal Word, she merited to be made the queen of the world and of all creatures. 
If, says St. Arnold, abbot, the flesh of Mary is one with that of Jesus, how can the mother 
be deprived of the sovereignty of the son. Then we ought to regard the glory of royalty 
which the mother and the son enjoy, not only as common, but the same. 

The Blessed Virgin, then, is a queen: but let all know, for their consolation, that she 
is a queen who is all sweetness and clemency, and inclined to relieve the miserable. 
Hence, the holy Church wishes that we salute and call her Queen of Mercy. The divine 
mother well knows that she is that blessed and happy creature who alone, among all 
men, has found the grace which they had lost ; she well knows that she is the beloved of 
the Lord, whom He loves more than all the saints and angels together. Is it possible 
then that God would not hear her petition ? Who can be ignorant of the efficacy of the 
Blessed Virgin’s prayers before the throne of God? “The law of clemency is on her 
tongue” (Prov. 31 : 26). 

504 


fc-o 




HJUothef^for yrm ” Sister Catherine 
after, the soul appeared to her again, 
\ thank you, Catherine; behold I go to 


r ever after to God and tQ 
offered, and behold, in a 
at than the sun, jmd'saj^H 
; of my Gou^tedj^j^fay fc 


The magnificence of kipgs> and queens cofisfs^m'r^lieyihg'the miserable. Thus, while 
tyrants in ruling their subjects^eekytheir ownYnJere§4. kings should have in view the, 
welfare of their vassals; hence, in ffit; cbrcfnatibn x>f kings their heads are anointed with 
oil, the symbol of mercy, to show that in their reign they should cherish, above all things, 
thoughts of clemency and beneficence towards their subjects. 

Kings, then, should be employed principally in works of mercy, but not so as to 
forget to execute justice (when necessary) on the guilty. Not so with the Blessed Virgin, 
who, though a queen, is not a queen of justice, intent on punishing malefactors, but a 
queen of mercy, who seeks only to obtain mercy and pardon for sinners. Hence, the 
Church wishes that we expressly call her the Queen of Mercy. God does not refuse to 
lear Mary whom He loves with an infinite love, when she prays for miserable sinners who 
invoke her intercession - 

EXAAPLE. 

In the life of Sister Catherine of St. Augustine it is related that in the neighborhood 
of the monastery of this servant of God, there was a woman called Mary, who from youth 
to old age continued obstinate in sin! her crimes were so great that the inhabitants 
expelled her from amongst them, and confined her in a cave outside the town; there she 
died, abandoned by all, and without the last sacraments, and therefore was buried like a 
brute beast in an open field. Sister Catherine, who was accustomed to pray with great 
fervor for all who had passed to the other life, after having heard of the death of the 
miserable old woman, abstained altogether from praying for her, believing, as all did, that 
she was damned. But behold, after four years, a soul in purgatory appeared to Sister 
Catherine, and said: “Sister Catherine, how miserable is my lot! You recommend to 
God the souls of all who die, and for my soul alone you have had no compassion.” “And 
who are you? ” replied the servant of God. “ I am that poor Mary who died in the cave.” 
“What!” said Sister Catherine, “are you saved?” “Yes,” said the soul, “I am saved 
through the clemency of the Blessed Virgin.” “And how?” asked Sister Catherine. 
“When I saw that I was at the point of death, so full of sins, and abandoned by all, I 
turned to the Mother of God, and said to her: ‘O lady, thou art the refuge of the aban- 
doned; behold at this moment I am abandoned by all; thou, after Jesus, art my only 
hope; thou art able to assist me; have pity on me.’ The holy Virgin obtained for me 
the grace to make an act of contrition; I died and am saved. Mary, my queen, has also 
obtained for me the favor that my punishment should be abridged, and that by suffering 
intense pains for a short time, I should satisfy for the punishment due to me for many 
years; I now only require a few Masses to be said for me, in order to be delivered from 
purgatory. I entreat you to procure for me the celebration of these Masses, and I 





V , T IS NOT by accident, nor in vain, that the clients 6$ J.be.Bles^d 

Ik '/l\ m Virgin call her mother; they appear as if unable to call her by any 

' other name, and are never weary of constantly calling, her mother. 
Yes, they call her mother, for to us she is truly a mother, not ac- 
cording to the flesh, but the spiritual mother of our souls and of 
our salvation. By depriving our souls of the divine grace, sin also 
deprived them of life; hence, when they were miserably dead, 
^ Jesus Christ, as He himself has declared, came through an excess 

of love and mercy, to restore, by His death on the cross, the 
spiritual life which we had lost. “I am come that they may 
' TNr: have life, and may have it more abundantly” (John io: io). 

We learn from the holy fathers, that the Blessed Virgin 
became our mother at two different periods of time. First, according to blessed 
Albertus Magnus, when she merited to conceive the Son of God in her virginal womb. 
St. Bernardine of Sienna tells us more clearly that the most holy Virgin, in consenting to 
become the mother of the eternal Word, prayed to God for our salvation with immense 
affection; and that such was the ardor with which she then sought our salvation, that 
thenceforward she, as a most loving mother, bore us in her womb. Speaking of the 
birth of our Saviour, St. Luke says that Mary brought forth her first-born son. If then, 
says a certain author, the evangelist asserts that the Virgin then brought forth her first- 
born, it must be supposed that she afterwards had other children. But the same author 
adds, that since it is of faith that Mary had no other child but Jesus according to 
flesh, she must have other spiritual children, and we all are these spiritual children. This 
our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude, who, in reading one day the above-mentioned passage 
of the Gospel, was perplexed because she could not understand how He could be called 
the first-born of Mary, when she was the mother of no one but Jesus. God revealed to 

men were 


the saint that Jesus was the first-born of Mary according to the flesh, and that 
her second-born children according to the spirit. 

It is true that in dying for the redemption of the human race, Jesus wished to be 
^alone. ‘‘I have\trodden tjie wine-press alone” (Is. 43: 3). But seeing the great 
Jsf Mary to be employed- jh the salvation of mankind, He ordained that she should cooped 
rate to our salvatio|Ujpy the sacrifice and oblation of His life, and that thus she sfrottld 
become the mother of our souls. This our Saviour gave us to understand, when, before 
His death, looking from the cross at His mother, and the disciple who stood beside Him, 
He first said to Mary: “Behold thy son” (John 19: 26); as if He said, behold theytfrjan. 




^3cioooo<)oooooooooooo7\pooooO<y 


OOOOOOOOOOOOOi 


who by the oblation you make of my life, for his salvation, is born to grace. Then, 
turning to the disciple, He said: “Behold thy mother.” By these words the Blessed 
Virgin was made the mother, not only of St. John, but of all men, by reason of the love 
she bore them. 


EXAAPLE, 


In the history of the foundation made by the Society of Jesus, in the kingdom of 
Naples (lib. cap. 7), we read of a young nobleman of Scotch extraction, called William 
Elphinston. He was a relative of King James; being born in heresy, he continued to live 
in it; but enlightened with divine light, he began to see his errors, came to France, and 
aided by a good father of the society, who was also a Scotchman, and still more by the 
prayers of the Blessed Virgin, he finally came to a knowledge of the truth, abjured his 
heresy, and became a Catholic. He then went to Rome, where a friend finding him 
once in sorrow and tears, asked the cause of his affliction. He answered that during 
the night his mother appeared to him and said: ‘ ’Son, it is well for you to have entered 
into the true Church ; I, because I have died in heresy, am now lost forever.” The fervor 
of his devotion to Mary was thenceforward increased — he chose her for his only mother. 
She inspired him with the thought of becoming a religious, and he made a vow to enter 
religion. But being infirm, he went to Naples for the recovery of his health. There the 
Lord wished that he should die, and die in religion. Soon after his arrival in Naples he 
was seized with a mortal disease ; and by his entreaties and tears induced the superior of 
the Jesuits to admit him into the order. When he received the viaticum, he made his 
vows before the blessed sacrament, and was declared a member of the society. After 
this he thanked his mother Mary, with tender affection, for having snatched him from 
heresy and conducted him to die in the true Church and in the house of God, surrounded 
by his religious brethren. Hence, he exclaimed : O how glorious is it to die in the midst 
of so many angels! Being exhorted to take repose, he answered: Ah! this is not the 
time for repose, now that the end of my life approaches. Before death he said to the 
bystanders: “ Brethren, do you not see the angels of heaven assisting me?” One of the 
religious having heard him mutter a few words, asked him what he said. He answered 
that his angel guardian had revealed to him that his purgatory should be very short, and 
that he should be very soon admitted into heaven. He then resumed his colloquies with 
his sweet mother Mary, and repeating “Mother, mother,” like an infant, casting itself 
into the arms of its mother to take repose, he placidly expired. Soon after a devout 
religious knew by revelation that he was in heaven. 


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INCE, then, Mary is our Mother, let us consider how great is her 
love for us. The love of parents for their children is a necessary 
jy love: and, as St. Thomas remarks (Opusc. lx. c. 4), this is the 
fiT, reason why the divine law commands children to love their parents, 
whilst on the other hand, there is no express precept imposed on 
parents to love their children ; because love for their own offspring 
^ is so strongly implanted by nature itself, that the most ferocious 

Hence natu- 


beasts of the forest cannot but love their young. 

^ ralists say, that even the tigress, on hearing the cry of her whelps ‘jp 

^ when taken by the sportsman, swims into the sea until she reaches 1 1 

the vessel in which her young are carried away. If then, says \ 4 
our most loving mother, if the tigress cannot but love her ® 
offspring, how can I forget to love you, my children ? “Can a woman forget her infant so 
as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget ypj? 
thee.’’ — Isa. 49: 15. If, she adds, a mother could not forget her infant, it is not possible / 
for me to forget a soul that is my child. yi 

If the love which all mothers bear to their children were united to the love which 
all men bear to their sponsers, and with the love which all the saints and angels bear to y 
their clients, it would not equal the love which the blessed mother bears to a single soul. 

Moreover, our mother loves us tenderly because we were recommended to her as J - 
her children; by her beloved Jesus, when, before His death, He said: “Woman, behold 4 
thy son;” pointing, in the person of John, to all mankind. These were the last words 
which He addressed to her. The last dying words of ardent lovers are highly esteemed, 
and can never be forgotten. Besides, we are dear to the blessed mother, because we cost 
her an excess of sorrow. Mothers entertain a peculiar affection for children whose 
preservation cost them great labor and pain. We are the children for whose attainment , 
pf the life of grace, Mary was obliged to suffer the pain of offering to death the dear life /? 
4>f her Jesus, content to see Him die before her eyes by dint of torments, in order to yP 
save our souls. By this great oblation we were then born to the life of divine grace. 
Hence, because we cost her great pain, we are very dear to our sweet mother. She 
4inticipates those who have recourse, to, herpshe obtains favors for them before they ask 
her prayers. So great, istlxejbve -i^hich this, gopd mother .bears us that when she 
jperceives our wants, shey comes to our. relief. 

But if the blessed.mother is/sWgoph'toally'eveji to the, ungrateful and negligent, wli p— 
IoVe her but littl^, a/nd seldom invoke her intercession; how loving must she be to tlieftt 

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who love her, and ask her prayers? She is easily “found by them that seek her.” — Wis. 
6: 13. Oh, how easy is it for them who love her, to find Mary, and to find her full of 
compassion and love! “I love them that love me.” — Prov. 8: 17. She declares that she 
cannot but love the soul that loves her. And although this most loving lady loves all 
men as her children, she recognizes and loves in a special manner, those who love her 
more tenderly. 

EXAAPLE. 

Father Auriemma relates that a poor female who tended flocks, loved Mary, so 
ardently that it was her delight to go to a little chapel of our lady, situated on a mountain, 
and while the sheep were feeding, there in solitude to speak and pay honor to her dear 
mother. Seing the little image of Mary, poor and unadorned, she endeavored by the 
fruits of her industry, to procure a decent covering for it. She made a garland of flowers 
which she had gathered in the fields, and ascending the altar, placed it on the head of 
the image, saying: “My mother, I would wish to place on thy head a crown of gold, and 
of gems ; but because I am poor, accept from my poverty this poor crown of flowers, and 
accept it as a token of the love which I bear thee.” Thus this devout virgin endeavored 
continually to serve and honor her beloved lady. But let us now see how the good mother 
rewarded the visits and affection of her child. She fell sick and was brought to the 
brink of death. It happened that two religious who passed near the place, being wearied 
by the journey, lay down under a tree to take repose. One of them fell asleep, the other 
remained awake, but both had the same vision. They saw a crowd of most beautiful 
young virgins, and among them one who far surpassed all the rest in beauty and majesty, 
To her one of the religious said: “Lady, who are you? Where are you going?” “I am,” 
she replied, “the mother of God: I am going along with these holy virgins to a neighboring 
village, to visit a dying shepherdess who has visited me so often.” After these words they 
disappeared. The two religious said to each other: “Let us also go to see this 
shepherdess.” They set out, and finding the house in which the dying virgin lay, they 
entered into a lowly hut, and there found her lying on a little straw. They saluted her: 
she said to them : “ Brothers, pray to God that he may show you the company that assists 
me.” They immediately fell on their knees, and saw Mary with a crown in her hand, 
beside the dying virgin and consoling her. Behold, the holy virgins begin to sing, and 
the blessed soul is separated from the body. Mary places the crown on her head, and 
carries the soul with her to paradise. 



509 









Penitent pinners 


Ti)e j'lotfjer 


HE BLESSED Virgin declared to St. Bridget (lib. iv. Rev. c. 138), 
that she is the mother not only of the just and of the innocent, 
but also of sinners, provided they wish to amend their lives. 
=i Ah! the sinner who wishes to amend his life, and has recourse to 
her, finds this good mother of mercy far more willing and prompt 
to embrace and assist him, than any carnal mother. But he 
who aspires to the honor of being a child of this great mother 
must first renounce sin, and then hope to be adopted for her son. 
) When the Blessed Virgin sees at her feet a sinner who comes to 
ask the aid of her prayers, she regards not the sins with which 

If he comes 


1 . 


he - s ( j e ^ e( j ) p> u t the intention with which he comes, 
with a good intention, though he had committed all sins, she 
embraces him, and as a most loving mother, she disdains not to heal all the wounds of 
his soul. For she is not only called, but truly is, the mother of mercy, and such she 
shows herself, by the love and tenderness with which she assists us. All this the 
Virgin herself expressed to St. Bridget saying: “ However much a man sins I am prepared 
to receive him when he returns ; nor do I attend to the number or enormity of his sins, 
but to the intention with which he returns. For I do not disdain to anoint and heal his 
wounds; for I am called, and I truly am, the Mother of Mercy.” — Rev. 1, 2, c. 23. 

The Blessed Virgin is a mother to sinners who wish to repent; she cannot but pity 
them; she even feels as her own miseries of her poor children. When the Canaanean 
woman asked Jesus Christ to deliver her daughter from the devil that tormented her, 
she said: “Flave mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grievously 
Ja-oubled by a devil.” — Matt. 15: 22. But since the daughter and not the mother was 
dx>rmented by the devil, it would appear that she ought to have said, “ Lord, have mercy 
on my daughter,” instead of saying, “ Lord, have mercy on me.” But no, she justly said, 
“ Have mercy on me ;” for mothers feel as their own all the sorro\ys / of their children. It 
is thus, that Mary prays to God, when she recommends to Aim .a sinner who asks her 


prayers. Mary cries out for the sinful soul, “have mere 
My Lord, she appears to say, this poor soul that is in the 
have mercy then, not so much on her as on me who/amd* 
that all sinners had recourse to this sweet motfieiy # 


— De laud V. c. 6. 
>1 sin, is my daughter, 
ler. O would to God 

























EXAMPLE. 

Belluacensis relates, that in a certain city in England, there was, in the year 1430, 
a young nobleman called Ernest, who after having given all his patrimony to the poor, 
became a monk, and led so perfect a life that the superiors of the monastery had a 
great esteem for him, particularly on account of his tender devotion to the most Holy 
Virgin. It happened that the city w r as attacked by the plague; the abbot commanded 
Ernest to go and pray before the altar of Mary, and not to depart from it until the 
blessed Virgin gave him an answer. After remaining three days before the altar, Mary 
directed him to say certain prayers; he obeyed, and the plague ceased. But afterwards 
his devotion to Mary grew cold: the devil assailed him with many temptations, particu- 
larly with temptations to fly from the monastery. The miserable young man, in 
consequence of not recommending himself to Mary, resolved to throw himself from a 
wall, and to escape from the monastery; but as he was passing by an image of Mary 
on the corridor, the Mother of God spoke to him and said: “My son, why do you leave 
me?’’ Ernest was filled with astonishment and compunction, and, falling on the ground, 
said “But, my lady, dost thou not see that I can no longer resist the temptation? why 
dost thou not asssist me?” The Virgin replied “Why have you not invoked me? Had 
you recommended yourself to me, you should not be reduced to this unhappy state; 
from this day forward recommend yourself to me and fear not.” Ernest returned to 
his cell, but the temptations returned; he neglected to recommend himself to God, or to 
Mary, and therefore he at length fled from the monastery and giving himself up to 
a most wicked life, rushing from one sin into another, he in the end became an assassin. 
He took an inn, in which, during the night, he murdered and robbed the poor travelers 
who passed by the way. Among them he one night killed the cousin of the governor of 
the place, who, after a long investigation, condemned him to the gibbet. But during 
the trial a young gentleman came to the inn ; the murderous innkeeper entered during 
the night into the gentleman’s room, for the purpose of murdering him; but behold on 
the bed he sees not the young man, but Christ crucified, covered with wounds, who, 
looking at him with eyes full of pity, said: “Is it not enough for you, O ungrateful man! 
that I have died once for you? Do you wish to kill me a second time? Stretch forth 
your hand and murder me again.” Ernest was filled with confusion, began to weep, and 
said with tears: “Lord, here I am; since Thou hast shown me so many mercies, I wish to 
return to Thee.” He then instantly left the inn, in order to return to his monastery, and 
to do penance for his crimes. He recommended himself to the Blessed Virgin, who said to 
him: “Go back to the monastery, do penance, and when you shall see in my hand a paper, 
declaring that your sins are pardoned, prepare for death.” 

Ernest returned, and relating to the abbot all that had happened, performed great 
penance. After many years he saw in the hands of the blessed Virgin, a paper assuring 
him of pardon. He immediately prepared himself for eternity and died a holy death. 








5f)e Obtains; for ns; tfe Pardon ofonr C3in<y 

O UNDERSTAND well the reason why the holy church makes us 
call the blessed mother our life, it is necessary to know that, as 
the soul gives life to the body, so the divine grace gives life to the 
soul ; though a soul without the grace of God may have the name 
of being alive, it is in reality dead, as was said to the angel of the 
Church of Sardis: “Thou hast the name of being alive, and thou 
art dead.” — Apoc. 3:1. Mary, then, by obtaining, through 
her intercession, the divine grace for sinners, restores life to them. 
Beheld how the holy church, speaking in the Virgin’s name, 
applies to her the following words of the book of Proverbs: 
“They that in the morning early watch for me shall find me.” 
— Prov. 8:17. They who are careful to have recourse to me early in the morning, 
that is as soon as possible, shall certainly find me. They shall find me; or, according to 
the Septuagint, they shall find grace. Thus to have recourse to Mary is the same as to 
recover the grace of God. A few verses after, she says: “He that shall find me, shall 
find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.” He who finds me finds life, and will 
receive from God eternal salvation. “Listen! listen!” exclaims Saint Bonaventure, 
on these words, “all you who desire the kingdom of God, honor the Virgin Mary, and 
you shall find life and eternal salvation.” 

St. Bernardine of Sienna says, that through the love which He bore to this his future 
daughter, God did not destroy man after sin. The saint adds, that he has no doubt but 
God granted all the mercies and all the pardons received by sinners in the old law, in 
consideration of this Blessed Virgin. Hence, St. Bernard earnestly exhorts us to ask 
grace, and to ask it through Mary. If we have miserably lost the divine grace let us 
seek to recover it, but let us seek it through the prayers of Mary; for, if we have lost 
grace, she has found it. Justly, then, does St. Lawrence Justinian call the Blessed Mary 
the hope of the guilty, because she obtains pardon for them from God. Justly does 
St. Bernard call her the ladder of sinners, because this merciful queen, stretching out 
her hand to those who have miserably fallen, saves them from the precipice of sin, and 
enables them to ascend to God. Justly does St. Augustine call her the only hope of us 
sinners; because it is only through her, after Jesus, that we hope for the remission of all 
our sins. Serm. 18. de Sanctis. St. John Chrysostom also says that, through the 
intercession of the Blessed Virgin, sinners receive pardon. 

No sinner should ever fear that the Blessed Virgin will cast him off, if he has recourse 
to her; no, for she is the mother of mercy, and as such, she desires to save them who are 


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She is that happy ark, in which, says S^Bernard, l\e 
suffer ^he shipwreck of eternal perdition. In the ark of Noah, 
e deluge, even the brute animals were saved. Under the jixatggtion ot 
Virgin even sinners are saved. St. Gertrude saw her one ds 
in which a multitude of wild beasts, of bears and tigers, took shelter; a? 
that the Blessed Virgin not only did not chase them away, but that she even' 
ed and caressed them with great tenderness. By this vision the saint und« 

■ the most abandoned sinners, when they have recourse to Mary, are not cast off, 
are gladly received, and saved from eternal death. Let us then enter into this ark; let 
us take refuge under the mantle of the most holy Virgin, who will certainly not reject us, 
but will securely save us by her inetercssion. 

EXAMPLE. 

It is related by Bovius, that there was a great sinner called Ellen; having gone to 
the church, she casually heard a sermon on the rosary. After leaving the church she 
procured a set of beads, but studiously concealed them from others. She then began to 
recite the rosary, but although she said it without devotion, the most holy Virgin 
obtained for her so many consolations, and so much sweetness during the recital of it, 
that she knew not how to give it up, She acquired such a horror of her sinful life, that 
she could find no repose. Hence, she found herself, as it were, forced to go to confession, 
and confessed her sins with so much contrition, that she excited the astonishment of 
the confessor. After confession she went before the altar of most holy Mary, to thank 
her advocate; she said the rosary, and the divine mother spoke to her from an image, and 
said: “Ellen, you have offended God and me sufficiently; from this day forward change 
your life, and I will obtain abundant graces for you.” Covered with confusion, the poor 
sinner answered: “Ah! most holy Virgin! it is true that hitherto I have been a wicked 
sinner: but do thou, who art all-powerful, assist me; I give myself to thee; I wish to spend 
all the remaining days of my life in doing penance for my sins.” Aided by the grace 
which Mary obtained for her, Ellen, began a course of rigorous penance. She was 
tormented by frightful temptations, but she constantly recommended herself to the^ 
Mother of God, and thus was always victorious. She even received many supernatural 
visions, revelations and prophecies. Finally, before death, of which the Blessed Virgin 
admonished her a few days before it happened, the Blessed Mother came with her son to 
visit her, and after death the soul of this sinner was seen flying to heaven in the form of 
a most beautiful dove. 


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Tf)e 5leSS e( l ^ott)er Render^ DeatR 

5veet. 

E THAT is a friend loveth at all times, and a brother is proved 
in distress.” — Prov, 17: 17. True friends and relations are 
known not in the time of prosperity, but in the time of distress 
and misery. Worldlings forsake not a friend as long as he is 
in prosperity; but should he meet with any misfortune, par- 
ticularly if death comes upon him, they instantly abandon 
him. The Blessed Mother does not act in this manner to her 
clients. In their troubles, and particularly in the anguish of 
death, which is the greatest that can happen to a man on this earth, this good lady 
and mother knows not how to abandon her faithful servants and she is our life during 
the time of our exile, so she becomes our sweetness at the hour of death, by obtaining 
for us a sweet and happy death. For from the great day on which she had at the same 
time the happiness and the sorrow of assisting at the death of Jesus, her Son, who was 
the head of the elect, she acquired the grace to assist all the elect at her death. Hence 
the holy church makes us pray to the Virgin to assist us particularly at the hour of 
death; pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. 

Great, indeed, are the troubles and anguish of the dying, as well on account of 
the remorse caused by past sins, as on account of the horror of approaching judgment, 
and the uncertainty of their eternal salvation. The devils will then arm themselves in a 
special manner, and labor with all their strength to gain the soul that passes to eternity ; 
because they know that but little time remains to gain her, and that if they lose her then, 
the}' - have lost her for ever. ‘‘The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, 
knowing that he hath but a short time.” — Apoc. 12: 12. Hence, the devil that usually 
tempts the soul during life, is not content to be alone in tempting her at death, but calls 
his associates to .his aid. “Their house shall be filled with serpents,” — Isa. 13: 21. 
When a Christian is about to die, his house is filled with devils, who unite in order to 
effect his ruin. 

Of St. Andrew Avellino, it is related, that at the hour of death there come ten 
thousand devils to tempt him. And we read in his life, that during his agony, he had so 
fierce a combat with hell, that he made all the religious tremble. So great was the 
agitation, that his face swelled and became black; all his members trembled; a floe I of 

5H 




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tears gushed from his eyes; his head shook violently: all signs of the horrible conflict 
with hell. The religious wept through compassion; they redoubled their prayers; they 
trembled through fear at the sight of a saint dying in such a manner. But they were 
consoled at seeing that he frequently cast his eyes on an image of Mary, as if to ask her 
ail: they remembered that .he said several times during life, that at the hour of death 
Mary would be his refuge. In the end it pleased God that the contest should be termi- 
nated by a glorious victory; for after the agitation of his body had ceased, and the coun- 
tenance returned to its natural color, they saw that he kept his eyes tranquilly fixed on 
an image of the Virgin; and that, after an inclination of the head to Mary (who is supposed 
to have then appeared to him), he placidly breathed forth his blessed soul, with celestial 
serenity, into the arms of Mary. Nor will your having once been a sinner prevent this 
consolation, if from this day forward you labor to lead a holy life, and to serve this 
most grateful and benign lady. In your troubles, and in the temptations with which 
the devil -will assail you in order to make you despair, she will comfort you, and she will 
come to assist you at death. Let us, though sinners, take courage, and hope with confi- 
dence that the Blessed Virgin will come to assist us at death, and to console us by her 
presence, if we serve her with love during the remainder of our life on this earth. Speaking 
one day to St. Matilda, our queen promised that she would come to assist at the hour of 
death, all her clients who should have served her faithfully during life. “To all who 
serve me piously, I, as a most tender mother, will come: I will console and protect them.’’ 

EXAMPLE. 

Let us here relate an example, in which we see the great tenderness of this good 
mother towards her children at the hour of death. A parish priest of a certain village 
was assisting at death, a rich man who died in a splendid house, attended by servants, 
relatives and friends. The priest saw the devils in the form of dogs, ready to carry off 
the soul of the rich man, as they afterwards did, for he died in sin. But during this 
time a poor woman who was at the end of her life, and desirous of receiving the holy 
sacrament, sent for the parish priest. Not being able to leave the rich man whose soul 
stood in great need of spiritual aid, the parish priest sent another priest who took with 
him the holy sacrament. He arrives at the house of that good woman; there he sees 
neither servants nor attendants, nor costly furniture ; for she was poor, and lay on a little 
straw. But what does he see ? He sees in the room a great light and beholds the mother 
of God near the bed of the dying woman, consoling her, and with a cloth in her hand, 
wiping away the sweat of death. The priest seeing the Blessed Mother, was afraid to 
enter, but she made a signal to him to come in; he enters; She points to a seat that he 
might sit down and hear the confession of her servant. After having made her confession, 
she received the holy communion with great devotion, and in the end happily breathed 
forth her soul in the arms of Mary. — Grisog. Mond. Mar. p. 2, d. 38. 



5i5 






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Oar P>^SS€d AYotfyer’s Promptness to 

Assist flU. 


ARE the miserable children of the unhappy Eve, and therefore 
guilty before God of her sin, and condemned to the same punish- 
ment; we wander through this valley of tears, exiled from our^ 
country, afflicted with so many pains in body and soul. But 
happy he, who, in the midst of these miseries, frequently turns 
,to the comfortress of the world, to the refuge of sinners, to the 
great Mother of God, and devoutly invokes her, and asks her; 
prayers. Nor should the multitude of our sins diminish our' 
confidence of being heard by the Blessed Virgin, when we have 
recourse to her. She is the Mother of Mercy, and there is no 
room for mercy unless there is misery to be relieved. Hence, 
as a good mother knows not how to refuse to apply a remedy to a 
r child infected with a loathsome disease, however troublesome and disgusting the applica- 
tion may be, so our good mother knows not how to abandon us when we have recourse to 
ler, however great the stench of the sins from which she has to cure us. This is pre- 
cisely what Mary wished to signify when she showed to St. Gertrude her mantle spread 
Dut, in order to receive all who had recourse to her. The saint learned, at the same time, 
that the angels are careful to defend the clients of the holy Virgin, from the molestations 
"of hell. 

Such is the clemency of this good mother towards us, and such is the love she bears 
us, that she does not wait for our prayers in order to assist us. “ She preventeth them 
that covet her, so that she first showeth herself to them.” — Mary is so full of grace and 
mercy, that she is able to provide for all without any danger of being exhausted. But, 
perhaps, we are afraid that Mary neither sees nor pities our miseries. No, she knows 
them better than we do, and feels the most tender compassion for them. And who 
among all the saints, feels such compassion for our miseries as Mary does? Hence, 
whenever she beholds misery, she instantly runs to relieve it by her great clemency. 
Miserable should we be, had we not this mother of mercy, who attends with so much 
:are and solicitude to the relief of our miseries. 




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EXAMPLE. 

Saint Francis de Sales, as we read in his life (lib. i,cap. iv), experienced the efficacy 
of involving the Blessed Virgin. At the age of seventeen he was in Paris, pursuing his 
studies, and entirely consecrated to the exercises of devotion, and to the divine love 
which filled his soul with the sweet delights of paradise. To try his fidelity, and to unite 
him more closely to his love, the Lord permitted the devil to represent to him that he 
was doomed to perdition, and that therefore all his good works were lost. The obscurity 
and aridity in which the Lord wished to leave him (for he was then insensible to all the 
sweet thoughts of the divine goodness), added to the affliction which the temptation 
caused in the heart of the holy youth. His fears and desolation were so great that he 
lost his appetite, his sleep, his color, the joy of his soul, and became an object of compas- 
sion to all who beheld him. 

During this frightful tempest, the saint could conceive no thought; could utter no 
words, but those of diffidence and sorrow. “ Then,” he would say, as we read in his life, 
‘‘shall I be deprived of the grace of my God, who has hitherto shown Himself so amiable 
and sweet to me? O love, 0 beauty, to which I have consecrated all my affections, shall 
I no longer enjoy your consolations? O Virgin Mother of God, the most beautiful of all 
the daughters of Jerusalem, shall I never have the happiness of seeing thee in paradise? 
Ah ! lady, if I am not to see thy beautiful countenance, at least do not permit me to have 
to blaspheme and curse thee in hell.” Such were the tender sentiments of that afflicted 
heart, which was enamored of God and the Virgin. The temptation lasted for a month; 
but, at length, the Lord was pleased to deliver him from it, by means of most Holy Mary, 
the comfortress of the world, under whose protection the saint had already made a vow 
of chastity, and in whom, after God, he used to say that he had placed all his hopes. 
During this temptation he one evening entered a church, in which he saw hanging on 
the wall a tablet, on which he read the following prayer of St. Bernard: ‘‘Remember, 
O most pious Mary, that it has never been heard that any one who had recourse to thy 
protection was abandoned.’ Prostrate before the altar of the divine mother, he recited 
this prayer with tender affection ; he renewed his vow of chastity ; promised to recite the 
rosary every day, and then added: “My queen, thou art my advocate with thy Son, to 
whom I dare not have recourse. My mother, if I shall be so unhappy as to be unable to 
love my Lord in the next world, whom I know to be so worthy of being loved, at least 
obtain for me the grace to love him in this life to the utmost of my ability. This is the 
grace which I ask, and hope to obtain through thy intercession.” Thus he prayed to the 
Virgin ; he then abandoned himself entirely into the arms of the divine mercy, resigning 
himself altogether to the divine will. But scarcely was his prayer finished, when his 
most sweet mother delivered him from temptation ; he instantly recovered his inward 
peace, and with it his bodily health; and he afterwards continued to live most devoted 
to the Blessed Virgin, whose praises and mercies he never ceased to proclaim in his ser- 
mons and writings. 

5i7 



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Oar Passed Cottier's Power Over 

^atan. 

OST Holy Mary is not only the queen of heaven and of the saints, 
but has also sovereign power over hell and the devils, because by 
her virtues, she has valiantly subdued them. From the begin- 
ning of the world God foretold to the infernal serpent, the victory 
and sway which our queen would have obtained over him, when 
He announced to him that a women would come who should 
conquer him. “ I will put enmities between thee and the woman 
. . . she shall crush thy head.” — Gen. 3: 15. And who was this woman — the 

enemy of Satan? Who but. the Blessed Virgin, who by her humility and holy life 
always vanquished him and beat down his forces? The Lord said, 1 will place enmity 
between thee and the woman, to show that this conquerer of the devil was not Eve 
who was then living, but should be another woman descended from her, who, says 
St. Vincent Ferrer, was to bring to our first parents greater benefits than those 
they had lost by their sin. Mary, then, has been that great and powerful woman, 
that has conquered the devil, and, as the Lord has added, has crushed his head, by 
humbling his pride. Some doubt whether these words refer to Mary or to Jesus, because 
in the Septuagint version we find, ‘‘He shall crush thy head.” But in the Vulgate, 
which is he only version approved by the Council of Trent, we have she, and not he; 
and this was the reading adopted by Saint Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. John 
Chrysostom, and a great many others. But whatever version be adopted, it is certain 
that either the Son by means of the mother, or the mother by the power of the Son, has 
conquered Lucifer. Thus, the Blessed Virgin has ignominiouslv crushed, and trampled 
on, the haughty fiend. Hence, as a slave captured in war, he is obliged always to obey the 
command of his queen. The Blessed Virgin appears to say to us in these words, when 
the devil assails you, have recourse to me, look up to me and have courage: for in me, 
who am your protectress, you shall also behold your victory. Thus, to have recourse 
to Mary is a most secure means of conquering all the powers of Hell; God has given 
her sovereign authority over hell and the devils, because she has conquered and crushed 
them. Hence, the Blessed Virgin is said to be an object of terror to the powers of hell: 
‘‘Terrible as an army set in array.” — Cant. 6 : 3. An army set in array; for she well 
knows how to dispose her power, her mercy, and her prayers for the confusion of the enemv 
and for the benefit of her servants, who in their temptations invoke her most powerful 
prayers. 



518 




“As the vine, I have brought forth a most pleasant odor.” — Eccl. 24: 23. Like 
the vine, says Mary, in the words of the Holy Ghost, I have produced fruits of sweet 
odor. St. Bona venture compares the Devil to the man of whom Job says: “ He diggeth 
through houses in the dark ... if the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the 
shadow of death . ’ ’ — J ob . 24: 16, 17. The robber goes to steal in the darkness of the night : 
but as soon as the dawn appears, he flies away as if he saw the shadow of death. It is 
thus precisely that the devils enter the soul in the time of darkness, that is, when the 
soul is obscured by ignorance. The instant the mercy of the Blessed Virgin comes to 
the aid of the soul, this beautiful aurora dissipates the darkness, and makes the 
infernal enemies fly as from death. Oh ! happy he who, in the battles with hell, always 
invokes the beautiful name of Mary! 

O Mary, truly glorious and wonderful is thy great name. They who remember to. 
invoke it at death, fear not all the powers of hell: for the moment the devils hear thy 
name, they instantly abandon the soul. A powerful army is not more terrible to an 
enemy, than the name and protection of Mary are to the powers of hell. 

EXAMPLE. 



In Recisberg, there was a canon regular, called Arnold, who had a tender devotion 
to the Blessed Virgin. At the hour of death he received the last sr raments, and having 
called around him his brothers in religion, he entreated them not to abandon him at that 
last momemt. Scarcely had he uttered these words, when behold! his entire frame 
began to tremble in their presence; his eyes became distorted, a cold sweat came on, and 
he said with a trembling voice: “Do you not see the devils, who wish to drag me to 
hell!” He then exclaimed: “My brothers, invoke for me the name of Mary: through her 
prayers I hope to obtain the victory.” At these words, the religious began to recite 
the Litany of the Virgin: and while they were saying: “Holy Mary, pray for him,” the 
dying man cried out: “ Repeat, repeat the name of Mary, for I am before the tribunal of 
God.” He remained silent for a little, and then said: “It is true that I have done the 
act, but I have done penance for it.” And turning to Mary, he said: “O Mary, I shall 
be delivered from my enemies, if thou dost assist me.” The devils assaulted him a 
second time; but he defended himself with the crucifix, and by invoking the name of 
Mary. Thus he spent the entire night. When morning arrived, Arnold, fall of serenity 
and joy, exclaimed: “Mary, my lady, my refuge, has obtained for me pardon and salva- 
tion.” Then looking at the Blessed Virgin, who invited him to follow her, he said: “I 
am going, my lady, I am going;” and making an effort to rise, he found himself unable to 
follow her with the body, but calmly expiring, his soul followed her, as we hope, to the 
kingdom of eternal glory. 





519 


Necessity of tl)e Intercession of Our 
blessed AYotljer. 

HAT it is not only lawful, but also useful and holy to ask the saints, 
and particularly most holy Mary, the queen of the saints, to obtain 
the divine grace for us, is a dogma of faith defined by the councils, 
against the heretics who censure the invocation of the saints, as 
being injurious to Jesus Christ, our only Mediator. That Jesus 
Christ is the only mediator of justice, who, by His merits, has 
obtained our reconciliation with God, no one denies. But on 
the other hand, it is an impiety to deny that God is pleased to 
grant the graces merited by His Son, to the prayers of the saints, 
and of Mary the divine mother, whom Jesus so ardently desires 
to see loved and honored by us. Does not every one know that 
the honor paid to a mother, redounds to the glory of her children ? 
“The glory of children are their fathers.” — Prov. 17: 6. Hence, St. Bernard says: do 
not imagine that the man who lavishes praise on the mother, obscures the glory of the 
Son: the more he honors the mother, the more he praises the son. For, it is certain that 
the authority granted to the Blessed Mother, to intercede for our salvation, has been 
given to her through the merits of Christ: to intercede for us, not as a mediatrix of justice, 
but as a mediatrix of grace and intercession. How can she be not full of grace, who has 
been made the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the most true mediator of God and 
men? Hence, we ask the holy Virgin to obtain for us the divine graces, not because we 
feel diffidence in the divine mercy, but rather because we distrust our own unworthiness, 
and that we recommend ourselves to the Blessed Virgin, that her dignity may supply our 
misery. 

That it is a most useful and holy act to invoke the intercession of Mary, can be ques- 
tioned only by those who have not the true faith. But the point which I intend to prove 
is, that the intercession of Mary is also necessary for our salvation: to speak correctly, I 
mean to say that it is necessary, not absolutely and indispensably as prayer to God is, 
but only morally, inasmuch as they who neglect to ask the prayers of the Virgin, shall 
find it very difficult to obtain all the graces necessary for salvation. And I say that 
this moral necessity of Mary’s intercession, or great difficulty in obtaining all the graces 
necessary for salvation, without asking her to pray for us, arises from the will of God, 
who wishes that all the graces which He dispenses to us should pass through her hands. 

Let your soul thirst after devotion to Mary; preserve it always and never abandon 
it until you receive her maternal benediction in heaven. Who, says St. Germanus, 



520 



nt-h 







Who should be saved? 


\ ' '' J 

should ever know God we're- it ndl; 

Who should be delivered f roni .^^gi^N^W ho ^W;uKLjrecei ve any grace, but for thee, 
O Mother of God; O virgin motherTO^ifi^f grace P^^Tlie Lord has ordained, as we have 
shown, that all graces pass through the hands of the Blessed Virgin, as through a channel 
of mercy, we can, nay we ought, to assert that she, through whom we receive the divine 
graces, is our hope. Let us endeavor to venerate with all the affections of our heart, 
this divine mother Mary : for this is the will of that Lord who has wished that we receive 
all good through her hands. Hence we should, whenever we desire or ask any grace, 
recommend ourselves to Mary and have confidence that we shall obtain it through her 
prayers. “ Let us ask grace, and let us ask it through Mary. 


EXAMPLE. 

Belluacensis (Spec. Hist. i. 7. c. 105.) and Cosarius relate, that a young nobleman 
having, by his vices, reduced himself from affluence to such a degree of poverty that he 
was obliged to beg, left his own country in order to live with less shame in a distant land, 
where he was unknown. On his journey he met a person who had been formerly 
servant to his father. This person, seeing him afflicted on account of the poverty into 
which he had fallen, told him to be cheerful, and promised to conduct him to a prince 
who would supply all his wants. This man was an impious scorcerer. Behold! he 
one day took the poor young man with him through a wood which stood near a marsh, 
and began to speak to a person who was invisible. The young man asked to whom he 
was speaking. He answered, to the devil. Seeing the young man terrified, he endeav- 
ored to animate his courage, and continuing to address the devil, he said: “This young 
man is reduced to extreme necessity: he wishes to be restored to his former condition.” 
The fiend answered: “ I will make him richer than he was before, but he must renounce 
Mary: for to her we ascribe our greatest losses. Oh! how many souls does she snatch 
from our hands, and bring back to God!” The young man refused to comply, saying: 
“ I cannot deny my mother, she is my only hope, after God. I am content to beg during 
my whole life, rather than deny her.” He then departed from the place. On his return 
he had to pass by a church dedicated to Mary. The afflicted youth entered, and kneeling 
before the image he began to weep, and to implore the most Holy Virgin to obtain for 
him the pardon of his sins. Behold! Mary instantly prays to her Son for the unhappy 
man. At first Jesus said: “ My mother, this ungrateful sinner has renounced my service.” 
Seeing that His mother continued to pray for him, Jesus at length said: “O mother, I 
have never refused thee anything. Since thou askest pardon for this sinner, I forgive 
him.” The person who had purchased the property of the young man secretly observed 
all that had happened, having witnessed the compassi on of Mary to this sinner, and 
gave him his only daughter in marriag^an^J^raxfehim neir of *11 his possessions. 
Thus, the young man recovered t^@^gr^ 5 ^^God^nd his temporal goods through the 
prayers of Mary. 

521 




’oacjf) tf>e AYerits 


Slewed AYotf)er 
for Alt. 


Obtains 


s h e wishes. And why? Precisely for the reason that the prayers 
^* 1 ' ' of Mary are the prayers of a mother. Hence the Blessed Virgin can 

fBjk do what she wishes in heaven, as well as on earth ; for she can raise 

!r • . ' • b" £ V, 

i' them that are in despair to hopes of salvation. “All power is 

v \ y J ■i.*' given to thee in heaven and on earth; and nothing is impossible 
5 '• • •• *X }$ %!?' to thee, who art able to obtain, even for them that are in despair, 

hopes of salvation.” — Serm. i. de. Nat. B. Virg. When the 
V Blessed mother goes to ask any favor for us of Jesus Christ, who 

is called the holy altar of mercy, where sinners obtain pardon 
from God, the Son has such an esteem for the prayers of Mary, and is so desirous of 
pleasing her, that when she prays, she seems to command rather than to entreat, and 
appears before Him rather as a lady than a handmaid. 

St. Antonine says, that the prayers of the holy Virgin, because they are the prayers 
of a mother, partake in a certain manner of the nature of a command, and that there- 
fore it is impossible that they should not be heard. Hence, in order to encourage 
sinners to recommend themselves to this advocate, St. Germanus says: O Mary, having 
with God the influence of a mother, thou dost obtain pardon for the most enormous 
sinners; for that God who acknowledges thee to be His true mother, cannot refuse to 
grant whatever thou askest of Him. 

In a word, it is certain that there is no creature who can obtain for us, miserable 
sinners, so many mercies as this good advocate, whom God, by hearing her prayers, 
honors not only as His beloved servant, but also as His true mother.^- This is precisely 
w;iUo™ ™"-y: “No creature can obtaifl X/ fpom thy 


what William of Paris says in addressing Mary 
ll&o many and so ^eat favots for the miserable, as thou obtainest for them: iflbthi^jARij fcfoj 
out doubt, He honipts Gfee, not as a servant, but as His most true mother.” ( 5 ^§Jppf 
our dear advocate, dSwce thou hast a heart^o merciful that thou canst not behold the 
miserable without feeling compassion, and since thou hast at the same time such great 
power with God, to save all whom thou dost defend, do not refuse to plead the cause, of 



pOOOOOOCJOOOOOOOOOOOtt 


p'ooooooooooooaooooooooooooooooi 


pooooOp' 


pboooooooooooDoooooooooooooooooooooooo^oMoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. 


us miserable sinners, who place in thee, after God, all our hopes. If our prayers do not 
move thee, let at least thy own benignant heart move thee, let thy power move thee: 
for God has enriched thee with thy great power, that in proportion as thou art rich in 
power to assist us, thou mayest be merciful in the will to aid us. 


EXAAPLE 


Father Razzi, of the order of Camaldoli (Mir. d. Mad. mir. 47), relates that a certain 
young man, after the death of his father, was sent into the court of a prince. In taking 
leave of him, his mother, who had a tender devotion to Mary, made him promise to 
Hail Mary , and after it to say: “Blessed Virgin, assist me at the 
After entering the court, he soon became so dissolute and addicted 

Not knowing how to procure the 
an assassin and a highway 
leglect to recommend himself to Mary, accord- 
In the end he was taken by the minister of justice, and 
was fixed for his execution, he began 


recite every day a 
hour of my death.” 

to vice, that his master was obliged to dismiss him 
means of support, he went into the country, and became 
robber. But during this time he did not m 
ing to the advice of his mother. 

condemned to death. On the day before that which 
to think of his disgrace, the grief of his mother, the death which awaited him, and wept 
bitterly. The devil seeing him oppressed with melancholy, appeared to him in the form 
of a beautiful young man and promised to save him from death, and to rescue him from 
prison, if he would do all that he should ask. The criminal consented. 1 he other told 
him that he was the devil, and had come to assist him. He then asked him to deny the 
Virgin Mary, and to renounce her protection. “Oh!” said the young man, “that I will 
never do;” and turning to the Virgin Mary, he repeated the prayer which his mother had 
taught him: “ Blessed Virgin, assist me, assist me at the hour of death.” At these words 
the demon disappeared. But the young man was overwhelmed with affliction, on 
account of his sins. He invoked the prayers of the \ irgin. She obtained for him a 
great sorrow for all his sins: he confessed them with many tears, and with great contrition 
In going to the place of execution, he met on the way a statue of Mary. He saluted the 
Virgin with his accustomed prayer : “ Blessed Virgin, assist me at the hour of my death. 


'OOoooooSooooooooooooooaOdOOQOOooocr 


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Tf)e Pressed Mother tl)e 
mailer of 5inner5 <x>itl) 


Peace 

God. 


^ TT v "THY SHOULD men regard as severe this merciful Saviour, who K‘ 
1M im# has given his life for our salvation? Why should they look on uV 
him, w ^° * s amiableness, as an object of terror? Diffident vf 
• • sinners, what do you fear? Are you fearful, because you haveUjffi 
^K|lm offended God; know that Jesus has fastened your sins to the 
■/! cross with His own wounded hands, and that having by His 
death atoned for them to the divine justice, He has already 
AIR Kfe# taken them away from your souls. Behold the consoling words 

? °f the saint: “They imagine Him who is mercy to be severe, and O 
Him who is amiableness, they regard as full of terror. What do 
1 ' %**^-z*l you fear, O ye of little faith? He has affixed your sins to the 

cross with his own hands.” But, adds the saint, should you ever feel afraid of having A 
recourse to Jesus Christ, because His divine majesty terrifies you; for in becoming man, x i 
He has not ceased to be God; should you wish for an advocate with Him, fly to Mary, 
for she will intercede for you with the Son, who will certainly hear all her prayers, and p>, 
the Son will intercede with the Father, who can refuse nothing to such a Son. “ But 
perhaps,” says the saint, “ you dread in the Son the divine majesty; because although He A 
has become man, he has continued to be God. Do you wish for an advocate with him.^Ugg 
Have recourse to Mary. The Son will certainly hear the mother, and the Father will 
hear the Son.” The holy Doctor then concludes in these words: “My children, she is 
the ladder of sinners, she is my greatest confidence, she is the entire ground of hope.” 

O my children, this divine mother is the ladder of sinners, by which they ascend again 
Jto the height of divine grace: she is my greatest confidence, she is the entire ground of 4 ; 
jmy hope. . 

Behold the words which the Holy Ghost in the Canticles puts into the mouth of V ^5 
Mary: “ I am a wall; and my breasts are as a tower, since I am become in his presence as - " - 
one finding peace.” — Cant. 8: io. I am, says Mary, the defence of all who have recourse y 
tt> me, and my mercy is to them a -tower of : r„ef uge , and therefore have I been appointed 
by my Lord, the mediatrix of peace between sinners and GocL^ 

St. John Chrysostom say6 that the Virgin' Mary has-been made Mother of God, in YM 
order that miserable.-sinnersjAyho, on account' of idle enormity of their sins, could no 4 rtx?'- 2 c 





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sweet clemency, and of her powerful intercession. “Therefore hast thou been chosen 
from eternity to be the mother of God, that thy mercy might procure salvation for those 
whom the justice of thy Son could not save.” Yes, adds St. Anselm, Mary has been 
raised to the dignity of Mother of God more for sinners than for the just: for Jesus Christ 
has declared that he came to call not the just, but sinners. “Oh, how many sinners, 
more ferocious than even the beasts of the forest, run at the voice of this great Virgin 
Mary, and permit her to bind them sweetly to God. 

EXAMPLE. 

Rupensis and Boniface relate, that in Florence there was a young female who was 
called Benedicta, or Blessed, but ought to be called accursed, on account of the wicked 
life which she led; fortunately for her, St. Dominick came to preach in that city; she 
went one day through mere curiosity to hear him ; but during the sermon the Lord filled 
her soul with compunction, so that she wept bitterly, and went bathed in tears to make 
her confession to the saint. St. Dominick heard her confession, and absolved her, and 
told her to recite the Rosary for her penance. But, in consequence of the bad habit she 
had contracted, she returned to her wicked life. Hearing of her unfortunate relapse, 
the saint sought after her, and induced her to make another confession. To confirm 
her in virtue, God gave her a view of hell, and showed her certain persons who were 
damned on her account. He then opened a book, and showed her the frightful catalogue 
of her sins. Struck with horror, she invoked with great confidence the aid of the Blessed 
Virgin, and was told that the divine mother obtained for her from God time to bewail 
all her wickedness. The vision ended, and Benedicta began to lead a holy life; but, 
having always before her eyes the gloomy catalogue of her sins, which had been shown 
to her, she one day prayed to her comfortress in these words: “My mother, it is true 
that on account of my disorders, I would desire to be now in the bottom of hell; but 
since, by thy intercession, thou, O most merciful lady, hast saved me from it, by obtaining 
for me time to repent, I ask this other favor of thee: I will never cease to bewail my sins, 
but obtain for me the grace that they may be cancelled in that book.” After this 
prayer Mary appeared to her and said, that to obtain what she asked, it would be 
necessary for her to preserve a continual remembrance of her sins, and of the mercy 
which God had shown her; that she should also remember the pains which Jesus 
Christ had suffered for her; and that she should consider how many are damned for 
fewer sins than she had committed. Benedicta obeyed faithfully, and behold Jesus. 
Christ appeared one day to her, and showing her the book said: “Behold, thy sins are 
cancelled, the book is blank ; write in it now acts of love and virtue.” Benedicta obeyed, 
led a holy life and died a holy death. 






Ti)e P) lessee! lifer Assists tier 
Children fn Pnrgator^. 

”, RULY happy are the devout clients of this most merciful mother, 
for she not only assists them by her prayers in this life, but also 
relieves and consoles them by her protection in purgatory. 
Since these souls are in great need of succor, because they are in 
torments and unable to assist themselves, she feels a special 
solicitude to obtain relief for them. St. Bernardine of Sienna 
says that in that prison of souls of the spouses of Jesus Christ, 
the Blessed Virgin has a certain dominion and plenitude of power, 
as well to mitigate their pains as to deliver them from their suffer- 
ings. With regard to the mitigation of their pains, the same 
saint applying to Mary the words of Ecclesiasticus: “in the 
waves of the sea I have walked,’’ adds, in her name, I have walked 
in the waves of the sea, “visiting my devout servants, who are my children, relieving 
their necessities, and assuaging their pains.” The pains of purgatory are called ivavcs, 
because in comparison of the pains of hell, which are everlasting, they are transitory. 
And they are called waves of the sea, because they are very severe. The Blessed Mother 
frequently visits and relieves her clients who are afflicted with these torments. Behold, 
then, the great advantage of being a servant of this good lady: she cannot forget her 
servants when they are afflicted with the pains of purgatory; and although she relieves 
all these suffering souls, she obtains greater indulgence and succor for them who were 
devoted to her on earth. 

The divine mother said once to St. Bridget, I am the mother of all the souls in pur- 
gatory: since the pains which they merit for the sins they had committed in this life, are, 
as long as they remain in that place of suffering, hourly mitigated in some measure by 
y prayers. The Blessed Virgin prays to God for them, and obtains relief, so that the 
urning heat of their torments is, as it were, cooled by a celestial dew. 

But the Blessed Virgin not only consoles and relieves her cl^etits in purgatory, she 
also delivers them from their pains and prison, by her interc«^fon. On the day of her 
glorious assumption, it is said that the prison of purgatory was bfmgftied. When she was 
about to ascend to heaven she asked of her Son the with her all the 

souls that were then in purgatory. From that d a y/ d Virgin possessed the 

privilege of delivering her servants from the p^^/jq^pEffg&tory. Mary can by her 

5 2 ! 






If 



prayers and by the application even of her own merits, rescue souls from purgatory, and 
particularly the souls of them who were devoted to her on earth. The sufferings of these 
souls are mitigated, and even shortened, because by her intercession she obtains an 
abridgment of the time of their purgation. 

And how is it possible for him to perish who recommends himself to this good 
mother, when, through His love for her, the Son, who is God, has promised to show 
mercy to all who recommend themselves to her protection. This our Lord revealed to 
St. Bridget (1.5.0. 53), when she heard Him say to Mary: “ By my omnipotence, beloved 
mother, I have given thee the privilege of obtaining in whatever manner thou wiliest, 
pardon for all sinners, who invoke the aid of thy clemency.” Hence, contemplating 
Mary’s great power with God, and her great compassion for us, the Abbot Adam Per- 
senius, said with unbounded confidence, O mother of mercy, thy clemency is as great as 
thy power; thy mercy in procuring pardon, is as great as thy power to obtain it. 

EXAMPLE. 

Father Eusebius Nierembergh (Trop. Marian, lib. 4, cap. 29), relates, that in a city 
of Arragon there was a young lady called Alexandra, who being of noble birth and extra- 
ordinary beauty, was greatly beloved by two young men, Through jealousy, they one 
day began to quarrel, and killed each other. Their relatives went, in a rage, and took 
away the life of poor Alexandra, because she had been the occasion of the death of the 
young men; they cut off her head and threw it into a well. In a few days after St. 
Dominick passed by, and being inspired by God, went to the well and said: “Alexandra, 
come forth.” Behold the maiden appeared, and entreated St. Dominick to hear her 
confession. The saint heard her confession, and gave her communion in the presence of 
an immense multitude of persons wdio had come to see the wonder that had been 
wrought. St. Dominick commanded her to state the reason why she had received so 
great a favor. Alexandra said, that when her head was cut off, she was in mortal sin, 
but that in return for the pious practice of reciting the Rosary, most holy Mary pre- 
served her life. Alexandra remained alive for two days, in the presence of all, and 
then her soul went to purgatory. In fifteen days her soul appeared to St. Dominick, 
beautiful and brilliant as a star, and said to him, that the recitation of the Rosary in 
their behalf, w'as one of the principal sources of relief to the souls in purgatory; and 
that as soon as they go to heaven, they pray for all who recite for them this powerful 
prayer. After these words, St. Dominick saw the fortunate soul ascending in triumph 
to the kingdom of the saints. 



5 2 7 






Condacts tier 
to Heaven. 


r P)te^ed dottier 
Faitljful Children 


H ! what a strong mark of predestination have the servants of the 
^ Blessed Virgin. To this divine mother, the holy Church applies 
A the words of Ecclesiasticus, and, in her name, says for the 
comfort of her servants: “In all these I sought rest, and I shall 
abide in the inheritance of the Lord.” “Happy the man,” 
in whose house Mary shall find rest. Through the love which 
Wti) she bears to all, she seeks to make devotion to herself reign in aTh 
There are many, who either do not receive it, or neglect to pre- 

Devotioji. 


serve happy he who receives and preserves it! 
to the Blessed Virgin abides in all who are the inheritance of tbfei 
, ' Lord; that is, in all who shall reign in heaven to praise Him fer 

eternity. In the chapter of Ecclesiasticus which has been jus£ 
quoted, Mary continues to say: “He that made me rested in my tabernacle, and 
said to me, — Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root 
in my elect.” My Creator has condescended to come to repose in my bosom, and has 
willed that I dwell in the hearts of the elect (of whom Jacob was a figure, and who are 
the inheritance of the Virgin); and has ordained, that in all, the predestined devotion to, 
and confidence in me, should take root. 

By her powerful prayers and aid, this divine mother will certainly obtain paradise 
for us, unless we place an impediment to its attainment. To serve Mary, and to belong 
to her court, is the greatest honor we can enjoy; for to serve the queen of heaven, is' 
already to reign in heaven, and to obey her commands, is more than to reign. On the 
other hand, they who do not serve Mary, shall not be saved; because they who are 
bereft of the assistance of this great mother, are deprived of the aid of her Son, and of 
the whole celestial court. 

Eternal praise to the infinite goodness of our God who has decreed to appoint Mary 
our advocate in heaven, that, as mother of the judge, and as mother of mercy, she may 
by her intercession efficaciously and successfully negotiate the great business of our 
eternal salvation. 

It is true that in this life no one can be certain of his salvation. “Man knowethr 
not whether he be worthy of love or hatred: but all things are kept uncertain for the 
time to come.” — Eccl. 9: 1. Sinners, let us walk in the footsteps of Mary, let us cast 
ourselves at her blessed feet, and not depart from her till she blesses us: for her benedic- 





a 1 


ms 







tion will secure to us the possession of paradise. Thou, 0 great mother, says St. 
Methodius, art the beginning, the middle, and end of our felicity. She is “the begin- 
ning,” because she obtains the pardon of our sins; “the middle,” because she obtains 
for us perseverance in grace; “ the end,” because she procures our admission into heaven. 
Through the Blessed Virgin, heaven has been opened, hell has been emptied, through 
her paradise has. been restored; in a word, through her eternal life has been given to 
so many miserable sinners, who had merited eternal death. But above all, we should 
be animated to hope with confidence for the glory of heaven by the great promise which 
Mary herself has made to all who honor her, and particularly to them who, by word 
and example, endeavor to make others know and honor her. “They that work by me, 
shall not sin. They that explain me, shall have life everlasting.” — Eccl. 24: 31. Happy 
they, who acquire the favor of Mary! they shall be recognized as companions by the 
saints in heaven. 

We read in the Chronicles of St. Francis, that brother Leo once saw in a vision, two 
ladders, one red, at the summit of which was Jesus Christ; and the other white, at the top 
of which presided his blessed Mother. He observed, that many who endeavored to 
ascend the first ladder, after mounting a few steps, fell down; and on trying again, 
were equally unsuccessful, so that they never attained the summit; but a voice having 
told them to make trial of the white ladder, they soon gained the top, the blessed 
Virgin having held forth her hands to help them. Who then will be saved, if not he 
for whom Mary prays? He for whom Mary pleads, is as sure of being saved as if he 
were already in heaven. Wherefore, all you who will have life eternal, serve and honor 
the Blessed Virgin; for she is, as it were, the bridge of salvation, which God has prepared 
for us, in order to pass securely over the troubled waters of this life. 

EXAAPLE. 

A child of ten years old, wonderfully experienced at death the protection of the blessed 
Virgin. During his life, he had often heard his tutor say, “ that if a person honored 
Mary every day, she would be propitious to him at his last hour.” Though according 
to the course of nature the boy might expect to live many years longer, he was so affected 
at this assurance, that he resolved to say often for this end, “Hail Mary, Mother of 
Mercy!" He was very faithful to this practice; at rising, lying down, going to class, or 
playing with his companions he never forgot to salute his good Mother. By a special 
favor of the blessed Virgin, who wished without doubt to withdraw her little servant 
from the dangers to which his innocence was exposed, he was attacked with a mortal 
distemper. When in his agony she appeared to him and said: “Don’t you know me, 
my child? I am the person you so often saluted, I am the Mother of mercy.” At 
these words the child raised his head, and extending his arms flew to heaven in com- 
pany with this ever blessed Mother. What advantage did he not reap from a little 
pious instruction? How much more useful was this lesson to him, than any he received 
in earthly sciences ? 

529 





Spf 


9 . 



Save IRegma. 


AIL holy Queen, Mother of mercy ; our life, our sweetness 
and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children 
of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and 
weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, 
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this, our exile, show unto 
us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus ; O clement, O pious, sweet 
Virgin Mary. 


V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God. 

R. That we inay be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 


/Iftemorare. 


EMEMBER, O most pious Virgin Mary, that no one ever 
had recourse to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought 
thy mediation, without obtaining relief. Relying on thy 
goodness and mercy, we cast ourselves at thy sacred feet, and most 
humbly supplicate thee, O Mother of the Eternal IVord, to adopt us 
as thy children, and take upon thyself the care of our salvation. 

O let it not be said, our dearest Mother, that we have perished 
at thy sacred feet, where no one ever found but mercy, grace and 
salvation. Amen. 





Contents 


The Rosary Is the Mark by Which Catholics Are Known i 

Origin of the Rosary . . ’ 3 

Propagation of the Rosary ’ . , . g 

The Reason of Its Success io 

Advantages of the Rosary 12 

Latest Authentic List of Rosary Indulgences 14 

Section /..Indulgences Granted to Those Who Join the Confraternity. . 14 

Section 2. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Reciting the Rosary 15 

Section 3. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Assisting at the Rosary Procession 17 

Section 4. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Visiting the Church or Chapel of the Confraternity 19 

Section 3. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Who Visit Five Altars 23 

Section 6. Indulgences Granted to Those Who Say or Hear the Votive Mass of the Most Holy Rosary . .... 23 

Section 7. Indulgences Granted to Those Who Make the Fifteen Saturdays in Honor of the Rosary 24 

Section 8. Indulgences Granted to Those Who Practice Certain Devotions During the Month of the Rosary ... 25 

Section 9. Indulgences Granted to Those Who Are Present at the Antiphon' “ Salve Regina ” when Sung ... 25 

Section 10. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Who Meditate or Perform Other Spiritual Exercises 26 

Section //. Indulgences Granted to Those Who Visit the Sick Members of the Confraternity 27 

Section 12. Indulgences Granted to Those Who Pray for the Deceased Members of the Confraternity 27 

Section 13. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians Who Perform Works of Charity or Piety 28 

Section 14. Indulgences Granted to Rosarians at the Hour of Death , 28 

Section 13. Indulgences Granted to Deceased Members of the Confraternity 29 

Indulgences That Can Be Gained by Rosarians and the Faithful in General 31 

Decree 32 

Summary of Indulgences Granted to All Faithful for the Devotion of the Most Holy Rosary .... 34 

For those Reciting the Third Part of the Rosary During the Month of October 37 

Parts of the Rosary 39 

What Is a Mystery? 40 

The Necessity of Meditation 42 

Days on Which the Different Mysteries Are to Be Said 44 

Explanation of the Prayers of the Rosary 45 

Our Father. (Prayer Expounded) 45 

The Hail Mary. (Prayer Expounded) 48 

The Fifteen Excellencies of the Hail Mary 51 

The Glory Be to the Father 53 

The Apostles’ Creed Expounded 54 

The Rosary of the Blessed Virgin (otherwise called “The Beads”) 66 

A Method of Saying the Rosary with the Mysteries 68 

The Five Joyful Mysteries • 69 

1. The Message of the Angel. (Illustrated) 7 1 

2. The Visitation. (Illustrated) 73 

3. The Birth of Our Lord. (Illustrated) 75 

4. The Presentation in the Temple. (Illustrated) 77 

5. The Finding in the Temple. (Illustrated) 79 

Prayer 80 

Lessons on the Virtues to Be Derived from Meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary 81 

The First Joyful Mystery Expounded 81 

Points of Meditation 82 

Virtue — Humility 82 

The Second Joyful Mystery Expounded 84 

Points of Meditation 85 

Virtue — Charity 86 

The Third Joyful Mystery Expounded 87 

Points of Meditation 88 

Virtue — Poverty 89 

The Fourth Joyful Mystery Expounded .... . . 91 

Points of Meditation 9 2 

Virtue — Obedience ... 93 

The Fifth Joyful Mystery Expounded 94 

Points of Meditation 95 

Virtue— Spirit of Piety 95 

The Five Sorrowful Mysteries 97 

1. The Agony in the Garden. (Illustrated) 99 

2. The Scourging at the Pillar. (Illustrated) 101 

3. The Crowning with Thorns. (Illustrated) 

4. The Carrying of the Cross. (Illustrated) 10 5 

5. The Crucifixion of Our Lord. (Illustrated) io 7 

Prayer . . IO ° 

The First Sorrowful Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation . . 110 

Virtue — Perseverance in Prayer 111 

i 


The Five Sorrowful Mysteries— Continued. 

The Second Sorrowful Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Spirit of Penance 

The Third Sorrowful Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Moral Courage 

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Patience 

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Pardoning of Sins 

The Five Glorious Mysteries 

1. The Resurrection of Our Lord. (Illustrated) 

2. The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven. (Illustrated) 

3. The Mission of the Holy Ghost. (Illustrated) 

4. The Assumption of Our Blessed Lady. (Illustrated) 

5. The Coronation of Our Blessed Lady. (Illustrated) 

Prayer 

The First Glorious Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Faith 

The Second Glorious Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Hope 

The Third Glorious Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Zeal for Saving Souls 

The Fourth Glorious Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Devotion to Mary 

The Fifth Glorious Mystery Expounded 

Points of Meditation 

Virtue — Perseverance 

Confraternity of the Rosary 

Litany of Our Lady of the Rosary 1 

Prayer 

Miracles of the Rosary 

The Student of the University of Louvain 

A Monastery Reformed 

A Christian Death Obtained by the Rosary 

A Devout Client of the Ave Maria 

The Old Soldier and His Rosary 

The Rosary and the Souls in Purgatory 

The Efficacy of the Rosary with the Heart of Jesus 

The Rosary and the Knight 

Chastisement of an Enemy of the Rosary 

Triumph of the Rosary Over Idolatry ... 

The Weight of the Rosary 

The Martyrs of the Rosary in 1868 . . 

The Rosary is the School of True Perfection 

The Chaplet and the Courtesan 

The Rosary is the Key of Purgatory 

The Broken Compact 

Famine on Board a Ship 

Slaves Delivered Through the Rosary 

Saints and Religious Orders Have Praised the Rosary . 

The People Always Devoted to the Rosary . 

How to Become a Rosarian 

The Angelus Bell Rings 

Who Introduced the Angelic Salutation into the Catholic Church ? 

Of What Does the “Angelus Domini ” Consist? 

Why and How Often is the “ Angelus Domini ” Said ? 

How Should We Say the “Angelus Domini?’’ 

Salutation to Mary 

Explanation of the “ Hail Mary ” or the Angelic Salutation 

Why is the “ Hail Mary” Called the Angelic Salutation ? 

Of What Does the “ Hail Mary” Consist ? . ... 

What Words Did the Angel Say to Mary ? 

What is Meant by These Words? 

What Were the Words Used by St. Elizabeth and What is Their Signification ? . 

Which Are the Words Added by the Church ? 

What Do These Words Mean ? . . . . 

The Rosary for Children . . 

The First Joyful Mystery — “ The Annunciation ” 

The Second Joyful Mystery — “ The Visitation ” 

The Third Joyful Mystery — “ The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ ” 

The Fourth Joyful Mystery— “ The Presentation in the Temple ” 

The Fifth Joyful Mystery — “The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple ” . . 

ii 


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The Rosary for Children-- Continued. 

The First Sorrowful Mystery— “ The Agony in the Garden ” 

The Second Sorrowful Mystery — “ The Scourging at the Pillar” 

rhe Third Sorrowful Mystery — ‘‘Jesus is Crowned with Thorns” 

The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery — “The Carrying of the Cross” 

The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery — ' ‘ The Crucifixion ” ’ • • • ’ 

The First Glorious Mystery — “ The Resurrection ” ’ ’ 

The Second Glorious Mystery — “The Ascension into Heaven ” 

The Third Glorious Mystery— “ The Descent of the Holy Ghost ” 

The Fourth Glorious Mystery — “ The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin ” . . 

The Fifth Glorious Mystery — “The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in Heaven ” 

Encyclical Letters of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII ' 

Other Popes Praised the Rosary' 

St. Dominic, Founder of the Order of Preachers 

The Sub-Prior of Osina 

His Labors Among the Albigenses 

Foundation of Prouille 

The Rose of Patience 

The Holy Rosary 

Foundation of the Order 

Dispersion of the Brethren 

Mode of Traveling . 

Establishment of the Order in Rome 

Favors of the Queen of Heaven 

Journey to Spain ’ 

Closing Years 

Personal Traits 

Death of the Saint " 

Penance ... . 

Which Penance is Necessary for the Forgiveness of Sins? 

Can Any One Who Has Committed Mortal Sin be Saved Without Penance ? 

Is This Penance Performed at Once? 

Why Do So Many Die Impenitent? 

Can All Sinners Do Penance ? 

Do All Who Go to Confession Perform True Penance? 

On the Examination of Conscience ' 

Why Should We Examine Our Conscience? 

Is it a Sin Not to Examine Ourselves Long and Carefully ? 

On Contrition 

What is Contrition and How Many Kinds Are There ? 

Is Natural Sorrow Sufficient for a Good Confession? 

What Other Qualities Are Necessary for a True Contrition ? 

What Kind of Sorrow Must We Have in Order to Obtain Forgiveness of Our Sins ? 

Who Are Those Who Have Reason to Fear They Have Aroused Only a Natural Sorrow for Their Sins? 

How Can the Sinner Attain True Sorrow ? 

Should We Make an Act of Contrition Before Confession Only? 

On the Purpose of Amendment • 

What is Necessary for a Firm Purpose ? 

Who, Then, Have no True Purpose of Amendment ? 

Confession 

Is Confession a Human Law, or a Human Invention ? 

What Will Aid Us to Make Confession Easy'? 

What Should be Done to Participate in These Benefits ? . . 

How Should the False Shame Which Prevents Confession be Overcome ? 

Satisfaction After Confession 

Is the Heretic Right in Asserting That Man Does Not Need to Render Satisfaction Since Christ Has Rendered 

it Complete on the Cross ? 

Matrimony . . 

What is Matrimony ? 

Who Instituted Matrimony ? 

Is Matrimony a Sacrament? . . 

What Graces Does This Sacrament Impart ? 

What is the External Sign in the Sacrament of Matrimony ? 

What Preparations Are to Be Made to Receive the Grace of This Sacrament ? 

Why Are There So Many Unhappy Marriages? 

Why Did God Institute Married Life ? ... 

With What Intentions Should the Married State Be Entered ? 

Why Are the Bans of Marriage Published Three Times in Church? 

Why is the Marriage Performed in the Presence of the Parish Priest? 

Why Do They Join Hands Before the Priest and Two Witnesses? 

Can the Bond of Marriage Be Dissolved in the Catholic Church ? 

What is Thought of Mixed Marriages or Marriages Between Catholics and Protestants ? 

What Should the Newly Married Couple Do Immediately After the Ceremony is Performed ? 

Confirmation 

Is Confirmation a Sacrament? 

Did Christ Introduce This Sacrament ? • 

What is the Visible Sign in Confirmation? 

What Graces Are Received in This Sacrament? 

Who Has Power to Administer Confirmation ? _ 

What is the Holy Chrism Which the Bishop Uses in Confirmation ? 


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Confirmation — Continued. PAGK 

Why is the Forehead Anointed with Chrism in the Form of a Cross? 259 

Why Does the Bishop Impose His Hands upon Those to Be Confirmed ? 259 

What Prayers Are Said by the Bishop While He Imposes His Hands upon Those to Be Confirmed? 259 

Why Does the Bishop Ask Especially for the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord ? 260 

Why Does.the Bishop Give Those Confirmed a Slight Blow on the Cheek ? 260 

Why Do the Sponsors Lay Their Right Hand on the Shoulder of the One to Be Confirmed ? 260 

Is Confirmation Necessary for Salvation ?..... 260 

What is Required of Those Who Are to Be Confirmed ? 260 

What Should Be Done After Receiving Confirmation ? 261 

Prayer After Confirmation 261 

Baptism 262 

Is Baptism a Sacrament ? 262 

What is the External Sign ? 262 

What Does the Baptismal Grace Effect ? 262 

How Many Kinds of Baptism Are There ? 262 

What Do the Different Ceremonies of This Sacrament Signify? 262 

Why is it Customary to Have a Godfather or Godmother ? 262 

What Results from This Sponsorship ? 263 

Why Has the Church Instituted This Spiritual Relation ? 263 

Why Must the Person to Be Baptized Wait at the Entrance of the Church ? 263 

Why Does the Person Receive a Saint’s Name ? 263 

Why Does the Priest Breathe in the Face of One to Be Baptized ? • 263 

Why Does the Priest Impose His Hands So Many Times upon the Head of the Person to Be Baptized? 264 

What Do the Many Exorcisms Signify ? 264 

Why is the Person So Often Signed With the Sign of the Cross ? 264 

What Does the Salt Signify Which is Put into the Person’s Mouth ? 264 

Why Are His Ears and Nose Touched with Spittle ? . . . . 264 

Why Does the Priest Ask: “ Dost Thou Renounce the Devil, and All His Works, and All His Pomps ? ” .... 264 

Why is the Person Anointed on the Shoulder and Breast with Holy Oil ? 265 

Why Are the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed Said at Baptism ? 265 

Why Does the Priest Expressly Ask the Person if He Will Be Baptized? 265 

Why is Water Poured Three Times upon the Person’s Head ? 265 

Why is the Person Anointed on the Top of the Head with Chrism ? 265 

What Does the White Robe Signi fy ? 266 

Why is a Lighted Candle Placed in His Hand ? 266 

Who is the Minister of This Sacrament ? 266 

What Must Be Observed Particularly in Private Baptism ? 266 

Instruction on the Renewal of Baptismal Vows 267 

Doctrine on the Hoey Trinity • . 268 

What is God ? • 268 

What is the Blessed Trinity ? 268 

Is Each of These Three Persons God ? 268 

Are There Not Three Gods ? 268 

Is Any One of These Three Persons Older, Mightier, or Greater Than the Other ? 268 

Ought One to Give Himself Up to the Investigation of the Most Holy Trinity ? 268 

The Most Holy Sacrament of the Aetar 269 

When and in What Manner Did Christ Promise This Sacrament? 269 

When and in What Manner Did Christ Institute the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar ? 271 

Did Christ Institute This Sacrament for All Time ? 272 

How Long After the Change Does Christ Remain Present Under the Appearance of Bread and Wine ? 272 

Do We Catholics Adore Bread When We Pay Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament ? 272 

Which Are the External Signs of This Sacrament ? 273 

Where and by Whom is This Consecration Effected ? 273 

Is Christ Present Under Each Form ? 273 

Then No Matter How Many Receive This Sacrament, Does Each Receive Christ ? 273 

Is it Necessary That This Sacrament Should be Received in Both Forms ? 273 

Which Are the Effects of Holy Communion ? . • . . . 274 

In What Does the Worthy Preparation for This Holy Sacrament Consist ? 275 

The Most Hory Sacrament of Extreme Unction 276 

Is Extreme Unction a Sacrament ? 276 

Did Christ Institute This Sacrament ? 276 

What is the External Sign of This Sacrament ? 277 

What Graces Does This Sacrament Produce in the Sick Man ? 277 

What Intentions Must the Sick Man Have, in Order to Gain These Graces ? 277 

Is This Sacrament Necessary to Salvation ? 278 

Can We Receive This Sacrament More Than Once? ' 278 

Why is This Sacrament Called Extreme Unction ? 278 

What Does the Priest Do When He.Enters the House of the Sick Person ? 278 

Why Does the Priest Sprinkle the Sick Person with Holy Water ? 278 

Why Does the Priest Exhort Those Present to Pray While He Administers the Sacrament ? 278 

For What Does the Priest Pray When He Imposes His Hands on the Head of the Sick Person ? 278 

What Does the Priest Say at the Anointing with Oil ? ... 279 

Why Does the Priest Present the Sick Person with the Crucifix to Kiss ? 279 

What Should the Sick Person Do After He Has Received the Sacrament of Extreme Unction ? 279 

The Sacrament of Hoey Order 280 

Is the Priesthood a Special and Holy State, Selected by God ? 280 

What is Holy Order ? 281 

What is the External Sign by Which Grace is Communicated to the Priests ? 282 

When Did Christ Institute This Sacrament ? 282 


IV 


The Sacrament of Hoey Order —Continued. PAG3 

Has Holy Order Always Been Regarded as a Sacrament in the Church ? 282 

Are Those Called to the Priesthood Ordained at Once ? 282 

How Many Degrees Are There in Holy Order? 282 

The Ceremonies Used at Funeraes 284 

Why is a Cross Carried Before the Corpse ? 284 

Why Are Lighted Candles Carried Before the Bier ? 284 

Why Are the Coffin and the Grave Sprinkled with Holy Water ? 284 

Why Are the Body and the Grave Incensed ? 284 

Why Are Psalms and Other Sacred Canticles Sung ? 285 

Why Are the Bells Rung ? . . 285 

Why Are the Bodies of the Faithful Buried with the Head Towards the East and Those of the Priests Towards 

the West ? 285 

Why is a Cross or Monument Erected Over the Grave ? .' 285 

Why is the Body Laid in Consecrated Ground ? 285 

Why is the Solemn Funeral Service of the Church Denied to Heretics ? 285 

Why Does Not the Church Permit Criminals and Suicides to be Buried in Consecrated Ground ? 285 

A Piegrimage to the Hoey Land 286 

The Catholic Church, Founded by Christ Himself, the Custodian of our Faith and Morals 307 

How Many Churches Did Christ Establish ? 308 

By What Marks is the Church of Christ Easily Known ? 309 

Which Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic ? 310 

Show How the Catholic Church is One 310 

Show How the Catholic Church is Holy 314 

What Does the Word Catholic Mean ? 321 

Show How the Roman Church is Catholic, or Universal 321 

Show How the Catholic Church is Apostolic 331 

Why is the Catholic Church Called Roman ? 333 

Can Protestant Sects Claim to be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic ? . 341 

If, Then, Only the Roman Church is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, What Follows ? 350 

Is the Faith of the Roman Catholic Divine or Human ? 354 

Do Protestant Sects Teach Divine Faith or Divine Authority ? 354 

Will Such Human Faith Save Them ? 359 

Who Are not Members of the Roman Catholic Church ? 361 

Why Are Those Persons Lost Who Have Been Justly Excommunicated and Who Are Unwilling to Do What is 

Required of Them Before They Are Absolved ? .... 363 

Would it be Right to Say That One Who Was not Received into the Church Before his Death is Damned ? . . . 370 

Will All Catholics Be Saved ? 377 

What Do We Believe When We Say, I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church ? 379 

Death — W hat it is to Die 393 

Judgment — T he General Judgment 399 

Purgatory — S ufferings of the Souls in Purgatory 405 

Heaven— D elights of Heaven 412 

HEEL — Existence of Hell 416 

Duration of Hell 4 2 ° 

Chaplet of St. Anthony 423 

St. Anthony of Padua .... 425 

Prayer to the Infant Jesus in the Arms of St. Anthony 441 

Prayer of St. Anthony to the Blessed Virgin 442 

Novena to St. Anthony 44 2 

Prayer to St. Anthony for the Recovery of Lost Graces 442 

St. Anthony’s Blessing 443 

Prayer to St. Anthony for Peace of Mind .... 443 

Sayings of St. Anthony 443 

How to Make a Novena to St. Anthony 444 

Miraculous Responsory of St. Anthony 444 

Cardinal Newman 447 

Lead, Kindly Light 447 

Faith and Private Judgment 448 

Faith and Doubt 459 

God’s Will the End of Life 47° 

Why Am I a Catholic, or, How to Convince Your Protestant Neighbor 481 

The Importance of the Religious Education of Children 493 

How Very Important it is to Bring up Children in Habits of Virtue . 493 

The Care and Diligence with Which Parents Ought to Endeavor to Bring up Their Children in Habits of Virtue 495 

The Blessed Virgin, the Mother of Mercy 5°4 

Confidence in Our Blessed Lady .... 5°6 

Our Blessed Mother’s Love for Us 508 

The Mother of Pp;nitent Sinners 

She Obtains for us the Pardon of our Sins 5 12 

The Blessed Mother Renders Death Sweet 5*4 

Our Blessed Mother’s Promptness to Assist All 5*6 

Our Blessed Mother’s Power Over Satan 5*8 

Necessity of the Intercession of Our Blessed Mother 5 2 o 

Through the Merits of Her Son, Our Blessed Mother Obtains Salvation for All 5 22 

The Blessed Mother is the Peacemaker of Sinners with God 5 2 4 

The Blessed Mother Assists Her Children in Purgatory -526 

Our Blessed Mother Conducts Her Faithful Children to Heaven 528 

Salve Regina 

Mbmorare 


v 




Illustrations 


PAGE 

Sistine Madonna Frontispiece. 

St. Dominic 38 

The Door of the Fold. (Sybil Parker) 41 

Easter Morning . . 43 

The Tomb of the Blessed Virgin 64 

The Message of the Angel. (Carl Bloch) 70 

The Visitation. (Bougereau) 72 

The Birth of Our Lord. (Carl Miiller) 74 

The Presentation in the Temple. (Raphael) 76 

The Finding in the Temple. (Hofman) 78 

The Holy Family 90 

The Agony in the Garden. (Meyer) 98 

The Scourging at the Pillar. (Bougereau) 100 

The Crowning With Thorns. (Guercino) 102 

The Carrying of the Cross. (Papperitz) 104 

The Crucifixion of Our Lord. (Petrissen) 106 

The Resurrection of Our Lord. (Angelo) 126 

The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven. (Bierinann) 128 

The Mission of the Holy Ghost. (Wurst) 130 

The Assumption of Our Blessed Lady. (Wurn) 132 

The Coronation of Our Blessed Lady. (Rubens) • 134 

Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me 201 

The Guardian Angel 240 

Gate of Jaffa in Ancient Wall of Jerusalem 287 

Ancient South Wall of Jerusalem, and View of Mount of Olives 289 

Southern Slope of Olivet and Mountains of Moab 291 

Valley of Hinnom on the Road to Bethlehem 293 

Evening Prayer 295 

Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem, Covering the Site of the Ancient Manger 297 

Jericho of To-day 299 

Rural Scenery of Galilee 3 01 

The City of Modern Sidon 3°3 

Garden of Gethsemane As It Now Appears 3°4 

St. Anthony 422 



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:| H 


: 



